Forwards in Reverse
by Raunchel
Summary: The war against Voldemort is lost and Hermione travels back in time to try to fix things. Things however do not go according to plan.
1. Prologue: Time Slipping Away

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for taking up all of your time with this little introduction, but I think that there are a few things that I should explain before the rest of the story comes.

First of all, I own absolutely nothing, except maybe what's in my wardrobe. And not even all of that.

Secondly, I think that I should give a brief explanation of what I'm planning. The basic idea behind this story is what if Hermione was not into boys at all, and fell only for girls, even though she never really told anyone, or showed anything. That led to a nastier fight with Ron, when he asked her, and she told him. He was rather angry about it, and left them as in the books, but because he was more upset, got himself killed. This in turn changed everything at the battle of Hogwarts. Without his friends really there for him, Harry lost hope, and when he died, he remained dead.

This in turn led to the collapse of all resistance to Voldemort, and Hermione, the only surviving member of our trio, trying desperate measures. She will be going back in time, to try to salvage the situation.

 **Forwards in Reverse**

 **Prologue: Time slipping away**

She is all alone, stalking through the empty hallway. Blue-whitish light reflecting from the black tiles that cover every surface. She looks terrible. Her brown hair is a wilderness, there even are some leaves tangled up in it. But she doesn't care, not anymore, not after what has happened. Her jeans and jacket are torn, and her sneakers only vaguely betray that they had once been white, now they are covered in mud, and worse. She has only cleaned them enough to prevent herself from leaving marks on the clean floor that could lead to being discovered. Her face looks pallid, and bears obvious bruises and smears under her eyes. Her tired eyes dance around furtively, looking for any sort of threat. She hears nothing, but still she holds her wand, always ready.

Hermione Granger is all alone in the building, it is a Saturday night, and almost all of the Ministry workers should be at home now. Even after all that has happened. They simply kept working, but now they work for _him._ Her mind is filled with all the memories which haunt her every waking moment. She has only one chance, and she has to take it now. It is desperate, but desperation is all that was left. The war is over, and they had lost.

She remembers how it all went, _his_ return, the battles that they had fought. And even the hope that had briefly surged as they hunted for the horcruxes. That maybe, they could stop the reign of darkness. But in the end they failed, how could they not have failed? They knew so little, and they were up against so much, with so few they could trust. Unprepared and weak they were, every last one of them. They had fought, and they had come close, even after they had been abandoned by Ron. He was selfish, but still, she hates herself for allowing that to happen. She should have seen that he loved her in a way that she never loved him, or any boy for that matter. She should have been more open about her attraction to girls before all of that happened. Without him everything became much, much harder. She only forgave him when she heard of his death on the small radio they had brought, one amongst dozens of names. Another friend taken away by _him,_ She felt guilty over this, and Harry was heartbroken. He hadn't taken well to his leaving, and even worse to the news of his death, because of _him_.

Not even in her thoughts she dares to use the name, any sort of reference. Speaking it out loud is a death sentence, and she is afraid even of her own thoughts now that _he_ has won. The moment of defeat had been clearly marked. It happened at Hogwarts, where everything began. She remembers _him_ coming to the castle, telling them all that Harry was dead. She didn't believe it, but the boy was nowhere to be found, and when she saw the body being carried forwards by the Death Eaters she cried.

Just like all the others, haunting her through the nights, in all of her nightmares. When that had happened it was clear that the darkness had won, and all defense had collapsed. She never heard who had died that night, the radio no longer broadcast after that night. She only fled, first from the castle, and then from every hiding place she had found, all of them discovered. She had fought, always on the run driven only by her fear. Always managing to barely escape, until she had found the most desperate idea.

It had been madness. She knew it when she started, but she refused to give up. There was nothing left to do, she couldn't spend her whole life running. She needed something, and she found something. Going to Diagon Alley seemed suicidal at first, but that was exactly why it had worked. It was unexpected, and she had succeeded. She had gone into several stores, and bought any book that might have been helpful, using up the last bit of polyjuice potion that she had with her to become a muggle she had found in the streets.

And those books had helped her a lot. They were the reason why she is now breaking into the Department of Mysteries, all alone. She could only do this alone, and could only hope that what she had read was true. If not, she will be found, and there will be no escape, only death. Somewhere she longs for it, an end to all of this. Hermione finally enters the department, remembering the Entrance all too well. Twelve doors, of which only one holds what she needs. There is bound to be a way to open the right one, but she will have to rely on chance. And chance alone.

She opens a first door, but it is the wrong one. There is a planetarium inside, and she turns around too open another. The second door is the same, and she curses. She marks all the doors with a number, to make it easier. But when she returns to the Entrance Chamber from another failed attempt, she finds that the numbers are gone, and she sighs. She knows her arithmancy well enough, and makes a quick calculation. It will take a lot of attempts, but if there is one trait that the has always had, it is a certain stubbornness, although some of course would call it foolhardiness. She tries door after door, sighing, none of them reveals the chamber that she looks for. But still she doesn't give up, she has come too far. Finally, when she has opened thirty doors, she gets lucky, and the thirty-first is the chamber that she needs.

She enters it with trepidation, this is what it all comes down to. The Time Chamber. She allows herself a brief smile on her dirty face, she sees the thing that she was looking for. The bell jar that she had read about, and which she had seen all those years ago. They feel like an eternity. With it, and the right spells, which she had memorized, she can do what she has to.

Hermione freezes, she hears something. Voices. There is no time left to think, no time to hide. Someone will find her, and this is her only chance. She whispers a spell, and then another as she waves her stolen wand. The glass starts to crack, opening up the anomaly that is contained inside. She then uses another simple spell, to take out the egg inside, finally giving the little animal inside its freedom after all that time. All the glass on one side flies away, and the girl swallows. If what madam Mintumble wrote was correct, this would be the way.

She blinks, readying herself for the final incantation, even as the voices come closer. They are too close. She needs more time. She mutters an incantation, and tiles rise up from the ground, forming a wall just in front of the door. And then she continues her complex magic, focusing. It is difficult. There are so many things that can go wrong. She pictures everything exactly as it was when she first heard of Hogwarts. In the living room, speaking to professor McGonagall. She pictures exactly what everything looked like, just as the book described. Nothing is more important than precision, although she didn't read why.

She hears the tiles cracking under some force and she worries for a moment as she speaks the final word and dives into the jar.

XxXxX

And then, nothing. Emptiness, blackness. It is warm, a bit like being underwater, but she has no sensation of needing air. Immediately she hears a terrible sound, like a bang. She wonders what it is, and soon enough, it repeats again. A slamming, booming noise. And there are more sounds. Something bubbling, gurgling and something flowing. Disgusting. But it is so warm, so comfortable. She moves her hand, but it seems weak and slow. So slow. And she feels tired.


	2. Chapter 1: A question of time and place

Hi everyone! This is the first real chapter in this story, in which Hermione finds out how well her plan so far has worked. I really hope that you will like it, and even if you don't, please let me know so I can know what I should improve.

 **1\. A question of time and place**

Hermione drifts from and into sleep, never hanging on for long. She finds it hard to separate, one moment she can think clearly, she realizes that something is wrong, and then she falls back into dreams. Always dreams. They are the same, she sees what has happened over the last few years. She sees the faces, all of her friends, dead and alive then, now all dead. She sees it happen again, them falling, them leaving, Hogwarts burning. Houses burning, bridges falling and towers crashing to the ground. And no one to put it out, no one to stop it. She hears the screams, and the laughter. Twisted laughter, from twisted throats. The laughter of the mad and evil. And she sees them too, the Death Eaters, and _him_. She sees _his_ cold eyes in her dreams, and she shivers with terror. And the others, the mad woman, who has caused her so much pain and suffering. The cold man, taking power for himself over those too weak to resist. Only terror, horror and fear. The end of the world, her world, both of her worlds.

She has a lucid moment, and she thinks. The spell has failed, she has failed, she allowed herself to be distracted. She should have been herself, at that time, just before Hogwarts. With time to prepare, time to plan and time to act. She could have won the war. But she hasn't, she failed, again she failed. And now she is somewhere, nowhere perhaps. She fears that it is driving her mad, the constant noises in the darkness. The weakness of her body, she can barely move, and she hardly tries to.

Above the thudding sound she hears something new. Vaguely like music, but muffled. But still she recognizes it, she can't recall who made it, but it is muggle music, she never cared much for music. High-pitched singing reaches her above a rhythmic beat although she can't distinguish what is being sung. She doesn't have to. Some of the words come to her mind, placed there by having heard them a hundred times. Not all of the words, only two, repeating themselves, over and over again: "Night Fever, Night Fever"

Is she becoming insane? Has she been captured after all, and is this a prison? She wonders, but there is no easy answer. Again she moves her arms through the warm water. She still has not drowned. It must be some magical liquid to keep her alive for interrogation. It is the only explanation. But Hermione can't grasp why she hears the muggle music. It makes no sense. None of _his_ followers would even admit to knowing it, let alone play something like that.

Then she feels something, on her belly. It is hard to feel, she doesn't feel much, her senses numbed by her surroundings. But she can feel something. It feels slippery, like everything else. But it is like a rope, and it throbs, following the rapid pace of her heart. She follows it, it leads towards her, touching where her navel should be. Then she realizes it. The spell has worked, but in the wrong way. She has failed, but only in part. She is a prisoner in another way. It all starts to make sense. She has returned in time, but she went too far. Too deep into the past. She failed to focus on the moment, and she went to the earliest moments.

Before her own birth.

She drifts from sleep to wakefulness, hardly separating the difference anymore. All alone with her thoughts and the occasional muffled sounds, lights, and movements. She no longer hears the noise surrounding her, only when it is different. The gurgling has faded into the background, now that she knows what it is. By now she can even make it out when her mother is saying something, but it remains too distorted to really understand what is being said.

If only she had studied the muggle sciences. Hermione knows that they would have taught her how children develop before birth, she once saw it in a book, but she took another, finding the biography of the composer Mozart more interesting. She should have chosen differently. She could have determined how long she would have to remain like this, how far she had come. And perhaps even track time in some way. But she can't. She knows next to nothing about it.

XxXxX

She has faded away again, losing consciousness, after what might have been months or minutes. She can't keep track anymore. She knows that she has faded, because she can see. Or maybe it is merely a memory, coming to the fore again. At least she knows that it isn't true.

She is walking through Hogwarts, and she instantly recognizes when it was. There was only one time that Ron had been dressed like that, in his special robes. It would have brought a smile to her face if it weren't for the sadness that she feels at the sight. Now the look of the frilly, rather hideous thing shows how wrong she had been. She should never have accepted to be his date for the ball. She shouldn't have gone at all. But it was better than going with Krum, she had found the Bulgarian rather creepy, always watching her in the library. But she should have never given Ron hope like that.

But still, she was walking by his side, towards the great hall. She couldn't say a word, only observing from her own eyes. She knows that she will be able to change things, but that will take time. An infinity of time. Slowly she sees the others, and she already knows what her eyes will see. They dwell on the girls, especially those she considered beautiful. She should have done the impossible thing, asked one of them. But she couldn't. She didn't dare to. Afraid of being judged, afraid of being laughed at again, afraid of being disappointed. Well, she was disappointed, she thinks bitterly, and she disappointed everyone.

If only she had managed to preserve the peace. Ron wouldn't have left them, and wouldn't have died. Harry wouldn't have seen it as another death on his conscience. And he wouldn't have left the castle, going all alone to face _him_. She only found out when Neville told her, and it already was too late. Harry never came back, he died. And with him hope died. But that was not what she was seeing now. She was seeing her own feet, remembering how she had looked at them for most of the ball. She hadn't danced, not for a single moment, but she also hadn't left. She had stayed, and she had watched others having fun. Like she had done so often.

The scene fades, and she sees nothing. Only the blackness of her prison. Her warm, comfortable prison. She wants to be free from it, to be out in the world. But she knows that even birth will not set her free. She will be helpless. And she will have to be careful. She can't betray what she knows, not before it is the time. She would only be called insane, and might even attract attention. The wrong kind of it. Obliviators could ruin everything, even this last hope.

And she needs a plan. Something to do for all those long years before she can go to Hogwarts, and get a wand. She will need a letter to do that. She can't go alone to Diagon Alley to purchase one. But that will take many years. And she needs it to perform any kind of magic.

She wonders what she can do without magic. She can study, but only muggle subjects. She can't yet travel, not for years. Anyone would immediately pick her up, and return her to her parents. The growing girl dreads these years, all of them spent in helplessness. She knows some of the terrible things that will happen, and there will be no way to stop them. None at all. She can't tell the Potters about what will soon happen to them. She can't save all those poor people who will still be killed, like the muggles blown up by Wormtail. She can't prevent Sirius from going to prison. She can't warn the Longbottoms about their terrible fate. She can't do anything at all. Nothing for many years.

She would have cried, but she can't. Not really. Only her head shakes, she can't even sob.

XxXxX

Again she is dreaming, she is seeing. But it all is blurry. Which her dreams hardly ever are, especially not the ones that she can actually observe. They are always clear. Except for this one time. She can also hear sounds, just like the muffled sounds she heard only moments before, but they too are distorted.

Finally everything clears up and she can see. It is a place that she has never seen. She sees a room with off-white walls, with smoke hanging in the air. There are yellow-brown lamps casting their light into it, and Hermione sees a man sitting next to her. He has long red-brownish and rather unwashed hair. He holds a cigarette in his hand. He wears a faded blue T-shirt and looks as though he isn't entirely present. But she can catch what he says: "… like I said."

She then hears another voice, a woman's: "Neil, Shirley", her field of vision turns to reveal a middle-aged woman, who looks as though she is the really proper kind, unlike the man. "I know that it is your child, but really, this is no place to let it grow up. I told you before, and I'll repeat it now. It is filthy. You have to move to a better place."

"But mom", the voice sounds as though it is being spoken by her, but she doesn't know it. "Our place is more than good enough. Neil and I have been living here for years now, and our little baby star will shine all the brighter here."

"You're not even married, for goodness sake. I want you to come home, Shirley, your father wants it too. It would make him very happy.", the prim lady replies.

"Dad said that he didn't want to see me again until I did exactly as he told me. And I won't. I'm happy! Why can't you see that? I love Neil, and I will live the way I want to!"

"Yeah, what Shirley said.", the man says and her sight focuses on him again, "Our love is real. You don't like me, which is OK, I guess. You can like whoever you like, but don't tell other people who they should like or not. That is really heavy."

Whoever she is looking from looks down for a moment, and takes a pull of a cigarette she hold. Hermione can clearly see the large belly of the woman, but she doesn't know any Shirley, or any Neil. This has to be a dream. It has to be. She wonders who these people are. She feels as though she is in Shirley's head, but at the same time, she can't be, because she doesn't know her. She feels that she is losing her grip on the conversation, and everything fades away again, back to blackness. Back to endless dreams.

XxXxX

Please tell me what you think of this so far. I know that she is dreaming a lot right now, but the big reason for that is that unborn children spend a large part of their time asleep, and I figured that having the thought processes of an adolescent would only be a bigger drain, and further increase the need for sleep.


	3. Chapter 2: A knowing birth

Hello again. This is the second chapter, where Hermione's new surroundings will become a bit clearer. I hope that it's not too boring, and I promise that there will be some more magic and actual action soon enough. The chapters will also become a bit longer, mostly because the main character will actually become capable of doing something.

And fifteen points for who guesses which show the soon-to-be father is inspired (blatantly stolen) on!

 **2\. A knowing birth**

Hermione had spent most of the time between her dreams trying to think. It was difficult to get a grasp on anything, she often lost track again, as she fell back into sleep. But now she has her mind together again. She knows that she messed up. She has been reduced to the state of an unborn child, but she doesn't even know if it is the unborn her, or someone else entirely. The time that she had seen through the woman had given her the idea that she might not have been with her parents, her real parents, but it might also have just been a dream.

But what if it was no dream? She might be born to other parents then, to another life. She went back into her memories, and thought about her past. She had never seen any photographs of her pregnant mother. Maybe she had been adopted, and they never told her? No. That couldn't be. Her parents would never have lied like that, and she looked like them. Quite a bit actually. No, she hadn't been adopted. They wouldn't lie to her about something like that.

But what had happened then? She is wondering, and focuses her entire small mind on the matter. And she fades again, and again looks through another's eyes. She can smell now, and she smells the smoke. It is a sickening smell, but the one she looks through seems not to notice. And she can taste it, burning in her mouth. Disgusting. And yet, there is no reaction to it.

She is watching a black-and-white television. She can't remember watching one of those. It looks old-fashioned, and she hears someone talking about something economic. Something that never really interested Hermione. And then she hears a voice that she recognizes, next to her, Neil's: "Wow, heavy. Can you believe it? Cutting taxes for the rich!"

"Yes dear", she heard the woman she was in saying, "Thatcher's only there for the big capitalists. That's what you get with the bourgeois."

"It's sad you know? Our baby born under this Junta."

"She or he can be a beacon of hope for us all. I told you before, and I'll tell you again. We have to make our own lives, our own future and our own paradise, because the military-industrial complex only wants to make us conform to their order."

"I guess that you're right. But we need a name for our child. Like Vyvyan."

"Oh no, silly", she replies, "it has to be a name that shows hope, and light. Not like one of your friends from Scumbag. They don't even care for you!"

"I know, it's heavy, but I lived with them. And they didn't kill me. Like this government is like trying."

is was thinking furiously, trying to let the woman think of Hermione. It is her name. It always has been, and always will be. _"Hermione, Hermione, Hermione, say Hermione."_

"How about Rainbow? To show that she or he is colourful. And the hope that things will get better. If we try."

" _No, no, no. That's not what it's supposed to be.",_ she thinks, hoping that the slow man at least had better sense.

"That's like a very nice name.", he says instead, causing Hermione to almost mentally shout at him. Not that he can hear of course. "But a baby can't just be called Rainbow."

Hope surges in Hermione at long last, maybe there will finally be a better idea. Neil continues: "Rainbow Star. That's much better."

"Yes, much better. Much more hopeful, and it doesn't matter if we get a boy or a girl. We can have our little Rainbow Star."

"Having a child is a bit heavy. We don't own anyone."

Her vision moves forwards, and she sees that the woman is about to kiss Neil. She panics, and slips away, back into the darkness. The warm, comfortable darkness.

She keeps thinking. About all the things that have happened. The idea of being adopted is gone now, and it seemed too real to be a dream. She has ruined the spell more thoroughly than she had thought at first. She won't be Hermione Granger. It makes sense now. She thought about nothing the moment she completed it, only panic. And the spell took her somewhere.

But now she also knows more. Names. There is someone named Thatcher. She sometimes heard her parents about a woman with that name before she went to school. She was the muggle prime minister throughout her childhood, and had been for some time. That means that she hasn't gone very far back, not far before her time. She knows that Thatcher fell when she just started Hogwarts, her parents had written about it. And she came to power around the time that she was born, she remembers that too. So, this is during her early youth.

She thinks about the other hints that were there. The circumstances looked primitive. It could mean that her parents to be are merely poor, but even then, no one lived like that when she went to school. None of her friends did. And that television was equally ancient. No, it has to be early. And that is good. It gives her some time. Time to make plans, and the time to be there in time.

But what more does she know already? Her parents are muggles, and they don't know much about her yet. And then it strikes her. Is she a she?

Moving is hard, and very slow. She can't feel much. But now she has to know for sure, otherwise she will surely be devoured by the question. She slowly moves one of her hands through the liquid, feeling with numb fingers. Past the throbbing cord binding her to her mother. And she feels. She feels nothing. But then she wonders if this is an answer. Are those things even present at this time in development? How far along is she?

XxXxX

Hermione is floating around, surrounded by faces. Dozens of them. All of them people she knew. People who died because she didn't do what she should have done. She didn't think. She sees Harry, glaring at her, having fled into death. She sees Ron, as he was when he stomped off, enraged, his face redder than his hair. Dead because she broke him. She sees Mrs. Weasley, who had tried to save her children at Hogwarts, but had been cursed in the back. She had become careless because Hermione had caused her son's death, and had been distracted because of her anger towards Hermione. She sees Neville, who told her about Harry, and who she told that he shouldn't have allowed it to happen. He was killed by _his_ fire because of that. She sees the way he looked at her while he burned, the desperation and the anger. She sees Sirius, who came to save them. She should not have fallen for the trap, she was the thinker, and she sees his scowl.

She sees more and more faces, all of them angry with her. She failed everyone. And then they fade, and she is surrounded by blackness again. Warm, soft blackness. Her dreams focus more and more on the many ways in which she has failed. Not only with the going back in time, but with everything that went before. Her waking moments she spends thinking, but never for long. The dreams always come to take her after even a little while. But now she feels clear again, and she thinks about the people who will be her parents. She has seen no sign of them being wizards, which makes sense, the vast majority of people are muggles after all.

But still, it leads to more questions. The most profound of these is if she will actually be a witch. She hopes that she will. But she can't know for sure. If she is born as a muggle, how can she ever help anyone? How can she do anything to save them? Of course, she can try to send them a few letters with information, but that would be it. Everything she plans would be for nothing, useless. Worse than useless even. She would be no one. Just another muggle, but one who knows far too much to ever live in her ignorance. She is mortally afraid of that, of having once tasted magic and losing it completely.

The feeling must be a bit like the fear of many wizarding parents that their child will be a squib, but even worse. She knows that they have a terrible life, starting with many expectations, and in the end, there is nothing that they can do. Only fail. They will never lead a good muggle life, haunted by the question of what they could have done if they had had magic. She wonders what she will do if that is the case. She hopes that she will have the strength to fight, to give information in secret. There are many things that she knows, and which she might be able to get to the right people. But once that is done? What can she do then?

She remembers what it was like with the timeturner. She recalls all too well the events of that night, when they used it together. They had saved themselves. Time had been in a loop. Nothing had changed by them going back, just like everything had. And she knows why her idea was a poor one. There was nothing that she could change. All the events were fixed already. And she knows it for certain now. She will be born a muggle, and all the letters that she might send, all the attempts that she could make to talk with people. They will all fail.

With the despair setting in she feels her surroundings come closer around her, placing pressure all over herself. A moment later it lets go again. She wonders what it is, and an indeterminate amount of time later, she feels it again. She feels that she is pushed around, and relaxes. Whatever is happening, she should do nothing against it.

Time and time again she can feel the pushing. They seem to become harder, take longer, and more frequent. Then, suddenly, she can feel that there is less liquid around her, as it flows away, in the direction that her head is facing. Her heart starts beating faster, and she can hear a voice. But doesn't know where she is.

She is pushed again, much harder this time, and she feels herself moving. Slowly but certainly she is being pushed. And it hurts. It feels as though someone has piled dozens of books on her. Especially on her head. She feels that she is being forced through a tunnel that doesn't fit. It is too small. And she panics. It hurts, and it feels like her head is bursting. She can feel it on her eyes, on her nose, on every part of it. Almost as though her head is being shaped. Which is impossible. Bone can't bend. It's too hard for that.

Hermione is losing track of how long this is taking, absorbed as she is by the pain, the pressure. She feels a touch on the top of her head, going around it, and now it feels as though someone is both trying to push in her head and to pull it off at the same time. She wants to cry, but she can't.

Suddenly she moves, and she is blinded. From the blackness she sees bright light, going right through the lids of the eyes. It hurts, but at least the pressure is gone. The rest of her body hurts as well, but not as badly as her head, which still feels like someone put it into one of those machines to destroy cars. She feels strange, the air is unpleasant, burning almost, and she grasps for breath, which hurts her untouched lungs. And she cries.

XxXxX

I really hope that I didn't mess up the description of the birth. Hermione is getting some things wrong, but I assume that she never really studied such matters. Of course, her perspective on the matter is quite a bit of conjecture, as I haven't been able to find any first-hand accounts of being born written by anyone.

And please, leave a comment to tell me how I am doing!


	4. Chapter 3: A new life

So, this is the third chapter. Hermione is still a baby, but she will soon enough be getting into the real world.

And the reward for guessing where Neil was taken from is still fifteen points.

 **DoDo1401:** Thank you for your kind words. It is really motivating to read such comments. I hope that I will manage to avoid diving too deep into cliché territory over the rest of the story.

 **3\. A new life**

After the horrifying experience Hermione could only feel the pain. Her ears couldn't understand what was being said around her, all the sounds were malformed. She forced her eyes to open to the bright light, but again she only saw indistinct shapes, not human beings. But the voices that she heard, even if they were incomprehensible, they were soft to her ears. Soothing, almost making her forget her pain.

She is being lifted into the air, and she feels herself placed somewhere soft, but it's still cold. Far too cold. She's no longer used to it. And every breath hurts, burning through her newly opened lungs. But she needs it, the air, she feels like she is suffocating. She grasps for more air, and she feels it enter new parts of her, where there has never been any. Breathing becomes easier by the moment, and she feels herself calming down, and she feels her exhaustion.

When she wakes again she feels something strange around her. Opening her eyes, she can see that it is some sort of fabric. She can't see very well yet, but it is improving. Her whole body aches, as though she has been kicked by a dozen Slytherins, all over her body. She looks around, she lies on a whitish surface, which is soft. She can see the light being broken up by bars going upwards. She must be in a cot then. But where? The surroundings are light, of course they are, but they are not white, there are many bright colours. She can't be in a hospital then, those always have white walls, as far as she can remember.

Then she hears a voice: "Ooh, my little Rainbow. Aren't you beautiful? Yes you are. Say hello to Linda!"

She turned her head towards the source of the sound, and she can make out pale flesh surrounded by what must be a mane of black hair. She knows that she can't talk yet, but she does react with a soft: "Weh."

"Who's a sweet baby? Oh yes, such a sweet little inny minny baby girly."

At that moment Hermione knows for sure that she will hate this Linda forever. She is just too annoying. And she doesn't stop in her terrible attempts to entertain the newborn, she only entertains herself. Probably one of those people who tell everyone how much fun they are, while everyone secretly wishes them to be elsewhere, like in Australia.

The thought brings memories of her parents to her. Her real parents. But whoever these people are, they are also her parents. Her new real parents. She knows that it will be difficult, but she will have to consider the Grangers to be only a memory. Her old life.

Her attention was drawn back to the present, when Linda finally left her alone, but she could still hear her high-pitched voice: "Oh Shirley! Your little girl is just so sweet! And she adores me!"

All she could do as a response was to stay lying down, even moving her arms was hard, and she couldn't talk. Not while breathing was still a challenge. And as far as she recalled, she shouldn't be able to do it yet anyways. But she doesn't know when she should. She can't betray herself, she doesn't want attention drawn to her. But she fears that she won't be able to do it right. To play the part that she must.

Suddenly she feels herself lifted up, and opens her eyes to see another woman. But she can't get a good look before she is pressed against her breast. And she finds it disgusting. But she is hungry, and she tells herself that this is perfectly natural and normal. Nothing to be ashamed of. She closes her eyes, and she does what untold numbers of children have done before her. And what she knows that she has done herself years ago, but without any memories of it. She drinks.

Shirley meanwhile makes cooing sounds, which Hermione finds grating. She always hated being treated as a child, and this is the worst she has ever had.

XxXxX

Some time later Linda has finally left, and she is lying in the arms of the woman who now is her mother. She can see clearer now, but still not as well as she was used to. They are alone, when she sees a long-haired man come into the small room. She instantly recognizes the voice, it's Neil, her new father. He sounds slow, and a bit tired even: "I'm sorry. I called again, and they didn't even say a word. They just like broke the connection."

The woman replies, clearly sad: "They just don't want us to be happy together. My parents are far too traditional for that. And they can't stand you, and they can't understand that marriage is outdated. But I don't care, we're happy together, you, me, and our little Rainbow."

"Yeah, but it's heavy. She won't have any grandparents.", he leaned over her, and his face became a bit clearer. He seemed to be very friendly, but not all that intelligent. "I always wanted grandparents."

"I know. I would also have wanted our daughter to have a bigger family. But she has us. And Linda also took a liking to her. When the rest returns from their trip I'm certain that they will also like her."

"Yeah, they're nice. But they won't be back for weeks, when they finish their walk. I still don't really get why everyone just decided to walk to Scotland and back just now.", he still speaks slowly. Hermione gets the idea that he is far from intelligent, but at least friendly. Which is something. Shirley seems to be more intelligent than her partner, but she has issues with her family. She recalls her mother coming to visit, it was far from nice and she obviously disapproved of something they had done.

"I guess that they just didn't want to be here when she was born. Only Linda stayed to help me with it. And you of course."

XxXxX

Over the days Hermione got to know more and more about her surroundings. And they shocked her. Her parents didn't have a house, they were living in one that they shared with a whole group of people, even though she didn't know how many. Her parents had a bedroom for the two of them, and another small room where they put her, little more than a broom closet like Harry told her about. But this one was filled with clothes.

Slowly she could move a little more, but still everything feels heavy. When she was alone, she practiced her speech, and she found that she could form words, although not yet perfectly. But it was better than crying. Something that she refuses to do all the time. It is demeaning. She feels tired all the time, and it is hard to keep track of the days. Sometimes it is dark, sometimes it is light, but she can't keep track of how much time there is between the wakeful moments. In none of the places where she comes, the green garden, or all of the rooms of the house, there is a clock.

Linda is around almost as much as her actual parents are, leading her to wonder if any of them has a real job. They never seem to leave for long, always coming to look at her. After some time more people showed up, most of them as well-dressed as Neil, or Shirley for that matter. Shirley mostly wore oversized dresses, with many colours, sometimes in floral patterns. And there were always splotches of what seemed to be paint everywhere. Hermione never really cared for clothes, but she cared about looking like an idiot. Although, if she had really been named Rainbow Star, she has other issues already.

Someone appears in her room, picking her up with greasy hands. It has to be Neil, she thinks that he is opposed to washing himself every day. "Hello Rainbow! How are you today?"

She looks at him, encouraging him to talk. "Shirley isn't here now, but I can keep you company."

He sits down, her in his lap, and looking down at his daughter: "You know, I like you very much, it's heavy, I never thought that I would have such a pretty baby."

Tears start to well up in his eyes, confirming her idea that he is a very kind man. She opens her mouth: "Daddy?"

"Oh!", he replies, smiling widely, "You can talk already? That's nice, I guess. I hope that I'm not boring you. Or maybe it's just the stuff from yesterday that makes me think you are. Can you really talk?"

"Daddy?", she repeated, wondering how far she could come. And what sort of 'stuff' he was referring to. She knew that some muggles used substances, but those were terrible. They had their whole lifes destroyed by it. And then it strikes her. Her parents had told her about those drug users, people who didn't do anything with their lives, only trying to get money to buy more of their drugs. They don't care for themselves, they live in squalor. That's what she was told, and now it all makes sense. Her new parents are addicts. Slaves to their cravings. Almost as terrible as what some potions or magical artifacts can do.

She doesn't want that to be the case, but it makes sense. It explains why Shirley's parents want her to come home, to leave all this behind. It explains why there are so many dirty people here, they don't have the money to get their own places. It explains why they are almost always at home, they don't work. They only try to find their 'stuff'. They no longer care about themselves, that's why everything is filthy. It even explains why many of them are so slow, their minds get damaged by it. The thought fills her with horror, what if she will become like them? Her mind gone. Can they do that to her? She is afraid that they can, but they are so nice. It's confusing.

The sadness must be shown on her face, because Neil starts looking worried. "Did I do something wrong little Star? What was it? Am I frightening you?"

"No.", she says, instantly regretting the stupidity of it. A baby can't speak yet. She should not go much further than just daddy or so. She shouldn't even understand what he's saying. But she does.

"Oh, you're only saying that to make me feel better about myself. You're a sweet one, really. What upset you?"

Her mind races, questioning what she can do. She can keep her silence, and hope that he forgets, but he looks so sad, sadder even than a young wolpertinger, which every witch who has read _Fantastic Beasts of the Alpine regions, part III_ knows to be amongst those with the greatest capacity for sadness, far more so than the mundane puppy, which even muggles are familiar with. But it could get her into trouble. On the other hand, she could speak to him, and he might keep her secret. If she asks him to.

Unfortunately for her, the sad eyes make the decision for her: "No", she grabbed a hold of herself before things went too far out of hand. "Daddy nice."

It was hard to pretend to speak in such a childlike manner, she never was any good with them, or liked them for that matter. So, she never had much of an opportunity to learn about such things. Her reply seemed to surprise Neil, and he remained silent, some of the sadness lifted away. But finally his slow voice returned to her ears: "Wow, heavy. You really talk. Shirley will be happy, I guess. She is really nice you know. She never calls me stupid. And she loves you a lot."

XxXxX

Slowly Hermione, or Rainbow Star, as her name now was, showed more and more of her ability to talk. She still found keeping track of time difficult, but she had discovered more things. Her mother is a painter, trying to get by selling her paintings, but for some reason that didn't work out all that well. At first Hermione didn't understand why, there are lots of people who like paintings. But then she saw them. They are, well, to put it mildly, strange. To her it looks like random splotches of colour, but Shirley would disagree with that assessment. Neil is writing something, but it never really became clear what it is supposed to be. But then again, he isn't the clearest of people at any time. He is strange enough to be an eccentric wizard.

Linda, who she saw almost as much as her parents was working on turning the garden into some sort of urban organic farm. She always talks about how most food only poisoned people. She didn't see the others as much, but there was at least one person who was constantly using a chainsaw. The sound often fills the house, like it does now, which is why she is still awake, despite feeling very tired. It is a terrible sound, and she finds herself wishing for a wand, to curse whoever thinks that this is a good idea.

Her cot has been moved to Shirley's studio, presumably so she can be watched while her mother works. She tries to close her eyes, to finally sleep, but the noise is too much. The chainsawer really deserves a proper cursing. And not one of the mild ones either. She wonders which one would be fitting. Probably something with a noise in their ears.

The door opens, or rather, the curtain that passes for one is torn aside. It is easy to hear because of the little bells that Shirley attached to them. It is a nice idea, but it gets annoying when the windows are open and there is even the slightest bit of wind. She turns her head to see who it is, but she didn't need to do that. From the voice it is clear enough already. Linda. She almost shouts: "Have you heard what they want to do!? They want to throw us out of this house, for some shopping center!"

"What!?", Shirley shouts back, "They can't do that. We have rights! We have to call a meeting! Form a committee! And take action. We can't let the fascists get away with it!"

XxXxX

She had fallen asleep at the meeting, which had soon degenerated into arguments about the exact nature of the fascists who were evicting them, and if it was the correct term to use. After only a few minutes it was clear that they wouldn't stand a chance. And so it went.

She awakes outside, carried by Shirley, towards a strange car, or rather, van. It is painted in bright colours, with flowers all over. She has seen those before, mostly when she was younger, and her parents had told her that funny people had those. Which could only mean that she now is one of the funny people. And of course, Linda is there: "Hi little Rainbow! Wave bye-bye to your old house. Oh yes, bye-bye. It is going to be demolished, to make room for shops. They're really mean, no one can send such a sweet little baby like you away. Oh yes, you're Linda's sweetest baby."

She however doesn't react, she still doesn't speak much, and mostly pretends that she has no clue, especially where Linda is concerned. She hates being around the woman.

"I hope that it won't upset her you know?", Shirley interrupts, "she was just getting used to this place, and now she has to move again."

XxXxX

So, this was the third chapter. I hope that it was enjoyable. And please, leave a comment, they make me really happy, and I'm certain that there are many ways in which I could improve my writing and the story.


	5. Chapter 4: A past without ghosts

Hi again, here we have the third real chapter, after a bit of a timeskip, because I don't think that it would be all that interesting to read endless chapters about learning to walk.

 **Fireguardian89:** Thank you very much for your comment. I have removed all the song lyrics as per your suggestion, I don't want to get into any kind of trouble. I have also corrected some of the sentences, to allow them to flow a bit better. I find it quite hard to build good phrases in English to be honest, in my native Dutch, and also the German that I regularly use sentences tend to be rather long, and I don't want to bore people with characteristic ten-line sentences. But looking back I might have gone a slight bit too far into the other direction. I will also try to do some more internal dialogue, but I find it hard to find a good way to represent it without seeming forced.

 **Chapter 4. A past without ghosts**

She wakes up with a start. Another bad dream, like almost all of them. She dreamt of her parents, her original ones, wandering through the simmering Australian heat. She called to them, but they couldn't hear her. They simply kept walking through the desert, and all the time she tried bringing them something to drink. But they didn't notice, and slowly died of thirst.

Now that she is awake she checks her surroundings. Everything is as it should be. She has a small room in the old building that they have been living in for the past three years. She likes this house, it is much nicer than the old one, where she had lived for four years. Here they have a very nice garden, and not as many other people in the same house. Only Linda, her parents, which is how she has started calling them now, she no longer uses the adjective 'new' for them. It just feels normal that way. And Linda's new boyfriend, James, who actually has a real job. He works as a technician for the railways. He is a strict vegetarian, like everyone in her new life, but he takes it further than the others, not even wanting any milk or eggs.

She doesn't go to school. Instead, Neil is home-schooling her next to his work, which apparently means writing the occasional article about peace, reading a little and occasionally going away to give a talk. She doesn't care very much for it, but she loves his teaching methods. She tried going to school at first, but she hated it there. Everyone saw her as the strange kid, with the weirdo parents, and that led to Neil becoming her tutor. He might not always seem too intelligent, but he still has a doctorate. Almost as soon as they started he lost track, and she said that she had already done all the reading, writing and basic math, so he just gave her a bunch of books to work through. Naturally, she already knew most of those things, so, she received a library card, and now she goes there every few days, to find new books to read. At first there were some comments that she might be a little young for them, but she simply said that they were for her parents. Which is why she makes a point of always also getting at least one book aimed more at her age.

Slowly she gets out of the bed, which was made a few years ago by Shirley, from roughly cut planks, and a lot of brightly-coloured paint. Over time she has come to like it. It really is hers, no one else has anything like it. She reaches under her pillow, to retrieve her watch. Her parents don't want her to have one, because time shouldn't dictate a child's life, but her life should dictate time. Hermione however doesn't agree with that, she likes knowing how late it is. It is six in the morning. Everyone else will still be sleeping, and she herself looks up to the ceiling, which has been painted with stars in all the colours, because it fits with her name.

The other children that she has met tend to laugh at her when she introduces herself. None of her names are normal. Apparently her last name has become Star, because her parents don't believe in using any of their old-fashioned names. And she doesn't enjoy playing anyways, it is far too childish for her, and she really prefers reading. And thinking. There are just so many things to think about. Like the book that Linda just gave her. A children's book, but still she likes it. It is about a really clever girl, who can lift things with her mind. It was what she was reading last night until she had finished it.

Thinking about it brings a smile to her face. Perhaps it will work today. She stands up and places a pencil on her desk, before sitting down and looking intently at it. From close by, she needs her glasses to see it from further away. That was another surprise about her new life, she doesn't have her old good eyes, and without glasses everything is a little hazy.

She stars intently at the pencil, and points her finger at it, moving it like she would move a wand. "Wingardium leviosa", she whispers. But nothing happens. She is used to it, but she hoped that at least something would work. But she doesn't give up that easily, and again she tries it, focusing on the pencil, the words and the movement.

Again it fails.

She sighs. Again she whispers: "Wingardium leviosa"

She keeps going for almost an hour, trying all sorts of charms that she remembers, but nothing. Not the slightest motion, not the slightest change in colour. She swallows, like she always does. There is one thing that she fears more than any other. That she is in fact a muggle.

XxXxX

She is lying in the long grass, reading about airplanes. She knows that it might not be very useful, but she has been wondering about how they work for a while now. Not even she could dedicate every waking moment to her mission. If it was even possible at all. She needs to distract herself from the failure. And so she dives ever deeper into books. Her one and only refuge.

Just as she is starting to grasp the concept of air movements across a wing she is interrupted: "Rainbow?", Neil asks, "can I join you?"

"Sure", she replies half-heartedly as her father sits down next to her. Both he and Shirley insist on being called by their first names, because they don't want there to be any hierarchy amongst them. They are a little odd like that.

"You look sad. What's making you feel like that?"

She sighs, "I don't know. Have you ever had the feeling that you're missing something?"

"Well, yes.", he replies, some worry in his voice. "Like when I can't find my pyamas."

"That's because Shirley likes them a lot.", she smiles, looking at him. "But I mean, the feeling that you're missing some part of yourself."

Now he looks really worried, and he blinks a few times. Softly he answers her: "Wow heavy. But yes, I know it all too well. What is it that you're missing?"

"I don't know, just that something isn't there."

"Do you remember your first day in school?"

Of course she can remember that. It was a terrible day, starting when her name was read, and ending with her trying to run away. "Yes. Why?"

"Oh, nothing.", he lies, and quite obviously at that.

"Why are you so worried? Is there something wrong with me?"

"No. It's just…", he stopped, looking at her with those sad eyes of his.

"What's wrong? You can tell me. I'm a big girl.", not that she was of course, being only seven.

"Well. It's like really heavy.", again he paused, and Hermione tried to give him a reassuring smile.

"It's fine, you said it yourself, it's good to talk about your problems."

"Something happened to me when I was seven. Just as old as you are now. And I don't know what. I know nothing. Nothing at all from before that day."

She couldn't hide her surprise. No wonder that he never talked about his childhood. He didn't have any! But then her mind kicked in. Her rational side. This could hardly be real. People didn't forget themselves. Not just like that. "What, how, ehm, do you have any idea?"

"No", he replies sadly, "nothing at all. I just was there. At King's Cross, with nothing but my clothes and a little piece of paper. No, not paper. That other thing, that they used long ago."

"Parchment, you mean?", she asks.

"Yes, that terrible stuff. I mean, who would kill an animal just to like write. That's really heavy."

This was really sparking her curiosity. Parchment was used only rarely after all. "Was there anything written on it?"

"Yeah, there was. It was like my name. Just that, Neil. And another line with 'birthday: 14-09-1956'And I had some money in my pocket. That was everything."

"Everything? Did you ever find out. Where you come from, I mean?"

"No. The police had a short investigation. But they never found anything."

"Do you remember anything, anything at all?", she asks, eager to figure out what has happened. Something tells her that there was some sort of magic behind this, but that seems all too unlikely. Memory charms are difficult, she remembers that well enough from when she altered the memories of her parents, it took a lot of effort. And even then, it was her family. Why would anyone go through all that trouble to send a child away without any links to his past, but still with money? Taking all the memories from someone that age, her own age would be a terrible thing. And even then, his parents would have gone looking for him. No, it simply has to be something different.

"No. Only the parchment with Neil on it. And the coins. Just a few of them.", he sniffs, "Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, Neil, I'm sorry for asking about it."

XxXxX

For the rest of the day she can't focus on her book. For some reason the movement of air around a wing doesn't hold her interest anymore. Instead, she is thinking about her father, and what could have happened. He is a muggle, that much is clear, not a hint of magic about him. Which basically excludes the possibility of magic playing a part in this. It has to be something else. But what can possibly damage a brain to such an extent that it can't recall anything anymore of seven whole years?

At first she thinks that it might have been a blow on the head. But he would have mentioned an injury, it would have been hard not to notice, even with the medical technology of that time. After all, doctors would still have had eyes. And such a case would always have drawn them like moths to a flame. Things like that are just too interesting to pass up. Which incidentally must also be the reason why it can't leave her.

That first option discarded alongside the magical one, her mind finds another possibility. Perhaps he had ingested something that destroyed every part of his memory? But that too would be rather odd, she had never heard of such a substance, or even read about it. And such things would be more than a little famous. And again, it might have been detected during the search for answers about him. And he still knew words and other things like that. Making this an unlikely option as well. But then another thought strikes her. Neil is a little odd. He seems slow, finds it hard to remember everything, but at the same time he is still a very intelligent person, otherwise he would never be working for one of those schools that muggles call a university. In a research position nonetheless. It seems likely that that trait would have to do with the incident.

And there has to be something more. There is no reason why someone would give a piece of parchment with a name and a date on it to a boy like that. Not unless whoever brought him to the station knew that he would forget everything before that moment. But who would do that, and why?

Still thinking things over she is disturbed, this time by one of the people she least wants to speak to. "Hi!", Linda starts excitedly. "Have you heard it?"

She looks up from her book, still at the chapter about the airflow. "No, I haven't, unless someone else already told me."

"Well", she starts while sitting down in the tall grass, entering what Hermione has come to call her story-mode. "Your mother and I went to the village today, and you would never guess what we saw."

"What?"

"There is going to be a big market for organic produce soon. And I figured, that maybe, one time only, you can go there with me, and help me out. Maybe we could even get ourselves some ice cream! I know. It isn't good at all, with all the lactose and the environment that is being destroyed by emissions and refrigerating gasses. But a girl as sweet as you are should be indulged at least once."

Unexpectedly she smiles, in this whole life she has never yet had any ice cream, not good one at least, because her parents, and the people they live with, consider it to be basically horrible. "But won't they mind? I mean, it is bad right?"

As she speaks it strikes her that it is strange that she focuses on the ice cream, and not on the helping Linda for a whole day, in some strange town. But then again, she hasn't had anything sweet for years, and she misses it so much.

"It can be our little secret!", the woman exclaims, grabbing Hermione and dragging her up from her book. "Don't I deserve a hug?"

Half-heartedly the girl hugs her, once again wishing that she had a wand so she could curse the woman and her grating, far too high-pitched voice. But then again, ice cream. She misses it a lot. Just like all the other sweets. Even her old parents let her have some, some of the time. And they were dentists. Not whatever her new parents are. She still doesn't entirely get that. Shirley makes paintings, which she always fails to sell, and Neil writes, but also doesn't sell anything. But he has a small salary from the university.

Then she gets an idea. "Did Neil ever tell you about his past? I mean, when he was my age?"

Linda's voice drops to little more than a whisper as she leans towards her: "We shouldn't talk about that here. Maybe when we go next week?"

XxXxX

Thanks a lot for putting up with me for such a time, and reading what I am writing. I am trying to improve my writing, and any help would be much appreciated :)

And of course, feel free to guess what's going on.


	6. Chapter 5: Coming Home

Hello again. Reading some more fanfics I noticed that it is customary to repeat that the writer doesn't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, which is something that I can only agree with. My ownership doesn't contain many things, so I know almost all of it. And I would have known if I had owned a multi-billion franchise. So yes, I don't own Harry Potter. No matter how much I would have liked to.

I do however have this little story. You won't believe how happy I am that there are people who are interested in reading my writings, even while I slowly edge my way towards an actual plot. I promise that there is one, but because it is a bit of a mystery one, it will take some time for things to become really clear. I hope that you will enjoy this chapter, and that you managed to get through all the drab that I wrote in front of it.

 **DoDo1401:** I think that I should have mentioned that in-story already, but when rereading I see that I forgot to put it in. So I'll put the current year in this one, and that should clarify the timeframe.

 **Chapter 5: Coming home**

She sits in the van, the only vehicle that they have at home, except for James' motorcycle. The thing is old, but it still works, even if it attracts quite some attention on the road. Such colourful vehicles are quite rare after all, most people tend to not paint their cars in all the colours they can find, with flowers everywhere. And even more people don't have a small garden on the roof. Which of course is to protect the environment from the pollution caused by it.

She looks at herself in the mirror of the van. In the house they don't have mirrors, because it doesn't matter what you look like. But still she occasionally gets curious. She tries to take a bath every day, unlike for instance her mother, who thinks that once every three or four days is more than enough. She likes being clean. Every time she sees her mirror image she is surprised, she still isn't used to it, she always has to tell herself that it's her.

Her hair is unbrushed. When it first started growing she tried using her fingers, but soon enough that wasn't enough, and she didn't see any excuse to ask for a brush. That in turn has led to it becoming one big tangled mess, joined together in a series of dark brown rope-like strands running down her head. This morning she tied daisies and dandelions side of the road around some of them. Shirley always really likes it when she does that, and tells her that it makes her look very nice.

She has a narrow face, and despite being outside regularly she is relatively pale, although she can't figure out why that would be. She has brown eyes, there is nothing special about them, every time she sees them she finds them a little bland. And she wears glasses, they are relatively large and round, her parents chose them for her, and she doesn't care all that much for how she looks anyways. And neither do they, they always say that spending too much on such things is giving in to the capitalists, and that there are much more important things to focus on.

She can't really see her clothes in the rearview mirror, but they're nothing special. At least, not to her, most people might find them a little odd. In her old life she would certainly have noticed. She wears a white dress, which Linda has sewed for her. It doesn't fit very well, but that doesn't matter. It has already lasted her almost a year, and will last her for quite a while, hopefully. She has dyed it herself, leaving only a little of the original white under the yellow, red and blue. Just the way they all like it.

Most of the time, especially when she is at home and it's summer, she doesn't wear any shoes. She likes the feeling of the grass between her toes. But now she is wearing a pair of second-hand sandals, obviously not made from leather, that would be wrong. Her parents say that it is a kind of murder to kill animals. She doesn't fully agree, gets their point, which is why she already decided not to eat any meat, even when she goes to live somewhere else. She doesn't even dare to think about going to Hogwarts anymore, not while she still has seen no hint of magic in her life.

Just before they left everyone had helped to load several crates with vegetables into the back of the van, and had kissed Rainbow goodbye. The name was becoming more and more difficult to her, she was seeing herself as both Rainbow and Hermione. Although she sometimes wondered if she was just insane. That all those memories were just figments of her imagination. Perhaps caused by the pills that the adults sometimes took, or the fumes from the things they smoke. She had once asked if she could try as well, but apparently those things are only for grownups.

She turns her head to look at Linda, who is busy driving. "Where are we going?"

Linda looks away from the road, to the girl sitting next to her: "The market is in Reading. Which is really far away. Almost thirty miles."

Immediately she decided to not ask anything else during the trip. She didn't want to have an accident. But she knows Reading. It is where she grew up, which she still considers a rather odd thing to think. She lived there in her previous life, when she was Hermione Granger, a perfectly ordinary girl with an extraordinary love for learning and books. Okay, she might not have been that ordinary, but from her new perspective, she definitely was, Hermione Granger had never worn so many bright colours, and most definitely no flowers in her hair.

She feels excited, she knows that it is a relatively large town, but still, there will be so many familiar things. As they get closer she watches, she sees familiar buildings, and they even pass her old school. She has both good and bad memories of it, she learned to read there, but she also learned that other children didn't like her liking books that much. And of course, it was where she had her first crush. It was a girl in her class, Emily, and it had ended badly. She, in all her naivety, had thought that it might have been a good idea to confess it, it was what people in the books always did after all, and she didn't know then that those books weren't always entirely honest. And maybe she should also have questioned why things were always between girls and boys. Never any variation.

And well, she had found out all too well that she shouldn't have done that. Emily had been more than just angry, she was furious, and Hermione ran way. She had never told anyone else, afraid of another such reaction, even when she learned more about such things. And in the end that led to all the trouble. If only she had talked a bit more about herself, about her feelings, then things might have gone differently.

XxXxX

She thinks that she isn't much help at the market, she can't really lift the crates, they are far too heavy for her slight frame. And she doesn't even get a good chance to ask Linda about Neil, not with all the people who are around at the market, it is quite a private thing after all. It isn't often that she is in such a crowd, and she notices that quite some of them are looking at her. That's quite usual when she is in public, but she doesn't like it very much. She's never been the type that really enjoys attention.

But here, behind the market stall that they have been assigned. Linda has put up a large sign over it, which Shirley has painted onto a cloth. From where she's standing Hermione can see a few other stands, but most of them look, well, a bit more professional. Right in front of them is a man selling band T-shirts, who looks as though he is on such markets almost every day of the week. To the left of that one there is an elderly couple, with large piles of second hand books in front of them. It takes her all of her self-control to not run over there and start looking through them. But she has an easy argument for it, she has no money, so she couldn't buy anything anyways. On the T-shirt salesman's other side she sees a rather strange stall, offering a wide variety of stones with mystical properties. Immediately she is reminded of her old life, and how much she misses the magic. The real magic, not that of stones connecting to inner energies to do whatever they do. It's almost as nonsensical as divinations, and she positively hated that class.

To her own right there is a stand with so-called home-baked pies, and they smell quite delicious, even if the ingredients might not be organic, and the old woman selling them does not look like a witch. Not the real kind though, more like the children's book version, including a large wart on her nose. On the left side there is a direct competitor. He is selling vegetables as well, but has far more variety, and they also look quite a lot shinier. They however are imported, and she knows all too well that that is terrible for the environment. She never really worried about it before, but now that she has actually read about it, she is starting to see it as a terrible problem. All the poisons going into the air, and then there of course is the heating up of the whole planet. She knows that lots of people don't really believe in it, but the way she sees it, they just want to keep living like they do. Just like they don't notice the magical world. And in magical society, they have no idea about the environment. She will have to do something about that, if she ever gets the chance.

She stands, looking over the first visitors of the day. Most of them look at Linda and her, but hardly any even come close. Let alone buy anything. There seems to be a distaste of them. All the other stalls already have had several customers, but they have no one. She looks at Linda: "Why isn't anyone coming here? Is this normal?"

"Oh sweetie, don't worry", the woman replies in her terrible voice, "the early risers never come to us. Most people don't see the world as it is, and are caught up only in their material desires."

"But, will there be people, later?"

"Oh yes, don't worry about that."

"What do we do until they come?", she asks, afraid of just having to sit here all day.

"I have an idea!", Linda smiles, and Hermione feels worried. That smile tends to be followed by things she doesn't like at all. "I could get out my guitar, and then you could climb onto the table, and dance. You like dancing, don't you?"

It must be an idea to draw people to them, Hermione saw no other reason for it. She doesn't like dancing very much, she prefers a good book, but she can't sit here, reading in Reading. She wants to go and walk around, for all the memories that she has of this place, but she can't. Not on her own, and Linda has to stay here, to sell her self-grown vegetables. She understands why customers won't prefer them, they aren't nearly as shiny as those sold by others, and of course, there is far less variation. Mostly cucumbers, lettuce and several types of beans, alongside some fruit and of course, herbs. Not nearly as inviting as brightly coloured paprikas or tomatoes. They haven't even filled the table of the stall completely, leaving an open area in the middle, on the side that they're standing on.

"Yes!", she lies. She has learned to become a better liar over the years, even before she came back. She just had too many secrets to keep.

Linda stands up and opens the van, to take out the guitar. Like many other things in the house, it has been painted by Shirley. And like almost all of them, it is brightly coloured, with a rainbow following the length of it. Rainbow takes off her sandals as she climbs onto the table. It is a little difficult, but with the help of a stool she gets there. Linda sits back down and starts to play. Quite badly really, but no one ever had the heart to tell her that. And she starts dancing, slowly at first, but more wildly later. The strands of hair fly around her head, a sensation that she has come to like over the years, but there is the slight issue of being watched.

And watched she is. She sees more and more people looking her way. She is used to it by now, but one of them she can't shake free from, miss Johnson, from fourth year. She forces herself to not wave at her, miss Johnson always was one of her favourite teachers, in her class she was allowed to read further than she had to, and had actually finished all the schoolwork of the year by Christmas. Thinking about her brings a big grin to her face, even though she knows that they will never truly meet.

Suddenly Linda stops playing, much to Hermione's relief. She slows down a little, and to her surprise it looks like there are actual customers. A slightly overweight man who is looking around, almost seeming ashamed of himself. But she hardly sees him. She only sees miss Johnson, walking right towards her!

She is starting to feel ashamed when the woman speaks to her, for the first time in years, and at the same time, before they ever spoke to each other: "Hello. You can dance very well, what is your name?"

For a few moments she can't reply, too surprised by this. She always had her teacher in her mind as a very kind person. But that was to her pupils. Not to just a stranger. "Hi! I'm He- Rainbow."

She almost messed up, for the first time in all those years. Luckily miss Johnson hasn't picked up on it. "Well Rainbow, how old are you?"

"I'm seven!", she answers, trying to sound like the other children she occasionally meets.

"Oh! You must be going to school already then."

This time she has to think a little, pushing away the sadness. All those beautiful memories of learning are something that she will never repeat. The thrill of discovery in the classroom, the beauty of finally achieving something new. Of course, she can still learn many things, but she will have to do that herself. "I don't go to school, I'm home-schooled."

When she says that the woman's face seems to darken a little, she obviously disapproves of it. "And do you have many friends?"

"Yes! I have Linda, and James, and Neil and Shirley. And lots of others too. But they're not always around.", Hermione answers, starting to feel more than a little unsure.

"Good", miss Johnson replies, "a girl your age should have plenty of other children to play with."

She feels ashamed of herself, even after all these years. She looks down at her feet. "Yes, but I prefer reading in the grass."

XxXxX

Finally miss Johnson had left, after buying several cucumbers. It put a bit of a sour taste over the rest of the morning, knowing that her favourite teacher from her primary school disagreed with her current schooling, even though Hermione knows all too well that going to a school would only cost her a lot of time, and could actually get her into trouble.

Throughout the morning more and more customers came to the stall, and she actually did some helping with selling things, still without a good opportunity to talk with Linda however. Lunch was a simple salad, one of the things that she has really come to like in her new home. Much better than the bread that she had before. After she has eaten her vegetables Linda turns to her: "Rainbow, dear, you've been a great help so far. Do you remember our little secret?"

Hermione nods: "Yes, I can try ice cream!"

"Yes you can.", Linda smiles, and gives her a few coins, "there is someone selling it just around the corner there. You know how to buy something, right?"

"Yes, I do.", she feels very excited, recalling again how much she misses little things like that.

"Good. Go there, and don't go wandering around on your own. As soon as you have it, you start eating, and come back here. OK?"

"Yes!"

"And a little hint from Linda: get something with chocolate. Chocolate is the best, that is something that all girls should know.", Linda winks, and Hermione immediately turns around, walking towards where the ice cream should be.

She works her way through the crowd, by now it is pretty busy, and it is difficult, many people don't even notice her. But slowly she makes her way to the little stall. There are lots of different tastes, and in her head she calculates that she can have a cone with three scoops, and even some whipped cream on top. But it is busy, there are lots of people waiting in line. And she even knows some of them. There even is an old classmate of hers, Matthew. She never liked him, he hated her for reading that much, and always called her a rabbit, because of her teeth. And he was a member of the small group that put glue in her hair once. And she doesn't have a wand to curse him. It is something that she has come to desire more and more often. Just a little hex, even if she knows that it's bad.

While waiting she looks at the enormous selection, constantly changing what she wants, until it is finally her turn. The man, or rather, boy, behind the counter can hardly see her, but still she squeeks excitedly: "I would like one scoop of dark chocolate, one of straciatella and one of white chocolate on a cone with whipped cream please!"

She pays, and a few moments later she holds a, to her, enormous cone, with three large balls of ice on top. Enthusiastically she takes a bit, and she suddenly feels one of her molars. It hurts, stinging. But she won't let all this delicious ice cream go to a waste, and she keeps eating on her way back. The pain seems to go away a little, her nerve ends numbed, and she feels happy when she returns to Linda. The woman in turn looks at her with a large grin on her face, as she sells something to another customer. "Do you like it?"

Hermione can't even reply, and only nods, still enjoying the taste. "Mmm, hmm"

After some time she reaches the actual cone. It is harder than she remembers it, and she bites off a piece. Chewing it. And then, a strange feeling, like something crumbling. She feels a part of her gums that she has never felt before, it is cold, and it hurts. She stops eating for a few moments, feeling her molars with her tongue. And then she notices it. She can go between the one that hurt and another. She feels loose hard pieces there, and they are sharp. The pain is getting worse, and she releases the cone from her mouth. "Linda. Something happened. A piece of my tooth broke off."

XxXxX

Thank you again for reading this new chapter, the longest one so far. I hope that you liked it. And if you didn't, please tell me why, so I can make improvements.


	7. Chapter 6: A Split Tooth

Here we are again, for the sixth chapter, I hope that you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please point out any mistakes that I've made, I'm still learning English after all.

 **WhenTheWorldEnded:** Thanks a lot for your comment. I didn't know about Mr. and the like being with capitals, so I'm really grateful for teaching me that. I try to read everything that I write, but for some reason I tend to be a little blind to my own errors, so I like it when others point things out for me.

 **DoDo1401:** I am sorry for not putting the date in the previous chapter as I had promised, it became a bit longer than I had expected, so that part will be put in this one.

 **Chapter 6: A Split Tooth**

Hermione's tooth is hurting more and more, the sugar of the ice cream burning into it. She has even started crying, while Linda is quite obviously in a panic. "I can't leave the stall. And I don't know a good herbal remedy. Just don't tell Neil and Shirley, Okay? Please?"

"It hurts!", she replies, "can I go to a dentist, please?"

"But sweetie, dentists are like doctors, and they're all liars."

"But my tooth hurts a lot. I promise that I won't tell anyone!"

"But I can't leave the stall, and there isn't anyone to take you there.", Linda is speaking more and more rapidly, as though she is actually afraid.

"Can't I go alone? I can ask someone to bring me there. They will help me. I'm sure of it."

"But..", Linda starts, before being interrupted by the young girl: "I can also go to the village on my own, to the library. And I, ouch, won't tell anyone. Just let me go. It hurts."

XxXxX

A little later she finds herself in the company of a policeman, who volunteered to take her to a dentist. She has learned that she should be afraid of them, and if she is honest, she actually is. She remembers moving out of their previous house, when there was a group of them, and they beat Neil and Shirley, and many others, as they were forced out of it. But this policeman doesn't frighten her, which is why she went to him. She used to know him a little, he sometimes even visited her home, in her previous life. His wife, Mrs. Dowling, was the assistant of her parents, and they got along quite well. She thinks that he won't beat her just for what she looks like.

And he didn't. When she asked him, he actually was friendly, and said that he would do his utmost to help, although she could hear him grumbling something about hippies not looking after their kids. She might agree a little with it, but this time there is an actual explanation. Of course, most parents won't let their little daughter go around all alone, but hers know that she is different, although they belief that it is because they give her the freedom that a child needs to grow into herself. And she doesn't mind it at all.

But now, in the police car, she is starting to feel nervous. They drive through familiar streets, past familiar houses. She knows every bit of it, this is a route that she has taken so many times. The way to her old neighbourhood from the city center. She always went past there when shopping for anything with her parents. But she can't be taken there, it is a Saturday, and her old parents never worked on weekends, not until she started Hogwarts, they wanted to spend the weekends with their daughter. She wrecks her brain, trying to recall any other dentists nearby. There was Mr. Harper, she never liked him, and most children who went there were really afraid of him. They said that he always said terrible things, and talked about enjoying hurting them.

But he worked on Saturdays. "Where are we going?"

"To some of my friends, they will help you, I'm sure of it. Don't you worry about that, your pain will be over soon.", he answered, looking at her with care in his eyes.

It is confusing, on one hand, her new parents say that the police are fascists, only there to take their freedom away. And so far, in this life, she has seen only that. They were the ones who threw them from houses, who always search their van. They even arrested people she knows a few times, mostly for trespassing, and for having certain herbs with them. The stuff that they smoke, that Hermione isn't allowed to, just like she can't take the pills. Not that she wants to, it seems to make them really slow, which she doesn't want to be. But now the police is helping her, and she hardly dares to hope it. She might finally be going home.

She looks out of the window, when she sees the turn to home. And then they pass it. She starts to cry again, hopefully Mr. Dowling wouldn't think much of it, that she's just crying because her tooth hurts. She can't deal with having to tell more lies right now. She sniffs: "Is it far?"

"Oh no, don't you worry about that. But what was your name again? I'm a bit forgetful you see."

"Rainbow, sir, Rainbow Star"

Well Rainbow Star, you're not afraid of the dentist, are you?

She sobs: "I've never been, sniff, to one."

In the mirror she sees him shake his head at that remark, and vaguely hears something like: "Crazy hippies", but then he speaks up again: "There is nothing to be afraid of. My wife even works for two of them. Really friendly people, and they definitely won't hurt you. They only try to help."

Two streets later than she had hoped he turns left. He should have turned two ago, not here. She doesn't know where she is going now, she can't recall anything of the kind in this place. And then he turns left again, and she knows where she is. She knows all the houses here, even the little playground that she visited sometimes. She looks, and some of the other children are there. But not her, of course, why should she? Even when she was seven she already spent most of her time reading, or alone. Also because she didn't have any friends. She never had any friends before Hogwarts.

She feels almost overwhelmed, everything is as it was, even the spelling error on the sign with the street name, the one containing the extra S which should not have been there. When she first noticed it she had been angry, how could anyone working for the government be so stupid? Only later did she learn that people working for the government are in fact mostly stupid, or useless, or actually evil. Mostly a combination of the three. Like the Ministry of Magic, not a single one of them knew the barest thing about proper governance.

And then she sees it. Her old house. It is a relatively large building, with the practice on half the ground floor, and the rest of it for her and her parents. Or perhaps she should put it differently, her old self and her old parents. She looks at it longingly, wishing that all this had never happened, and that she could just walk in there, say hello to them, and perhaps even introduce a girlfriend. That would be nice, but utterly impossible now. She can only hope that Hermione, the one actually bearing the name, if she exists at all, will have that happiness. But that means that she will have to be able to do magic, and to actually help. Otherwise it will just be another doomed existence, an extension of the previous one.

The police car stops in front of the house, and Mr. Dowling opens his door saying: "Come, don't be afraid."

Right next to her is the grey Vauxhall Astra that her parents used to drive, before they got the new car, just before she turned ten. She slowly opens the door, and when she gets out she looks at the house. And specifically one window, on the second floor. She can see the red curtains, and even, barely, the bear hanging in front of it. The memory of bringing it home is still clear, and after putting it in front of the window in her room, it was never removed. Not even when she was much older.

Mr. Dowling stands next to her, and takes her hand gently. "Everything will be just fine. The Grangers are the best dentists in Reading, and friendly to boot."

He smiles at her, and brings her to the front door. Her heart is beating faster than it ever has, and it takes all of her self-control to not start jumping in excitement. She is afraid of what will happen when he rings the bell. Will there be a connection? Will her parents actually see her as something special? Or will she just be a disturbance of their quiet Saturday?

She hears someone coming down the stairs, but she can't see through the glass to find out who it might be. She feels to excited, she can hardly hide it anymore. Only pushing against her broken molar helps, the pain gives her something else to think about. Or rather, it drives the thoughts from her head. And then the door starts to open.

Hermione stands paralyzed as she looks at none other than Hermione Granger. She can't take the eyes off herself. She can't say a word, and knows that she looks like an idiot.

"Hi", Hermione says, meekly.

And she doesn't reply, not knowing what she should do now. Luckily, Mr. Dowling saves the situation: "Hello Hermione, are your parents at home?"

"Yes! Who is that?", the girl who was her answers, curious as always, but also a little afraid.

Finally she gathers her courage to say something, afraid of ruining everything. "I'm Rainbow."

"That's not a name. What is your real name?", was she such a know-it-all before? No wonder that she wasn't all that popular with the other children.

"My name is Rainbow, Rainbow Star. What is yours?", she insists, realizing that she indeed has a name which sounds a little stupid.

"I'm Hermione. Why are you here?"

It is difficult, looking up to herself, and trying not to betray anything. She doesn't answer at first, and again the policeman saves her. "She hurt herself, and I want to talk to your parents for a moment please."

With that Hermione turns around and heads back into the house, seeming relieved. She can understand that, she never liked talking to strangers, not when she was that age before. Rainbow still doesn't like it, she prefers the company of her books, they don't judge, unlike people.

A few moments later she hears new footsteps approaching, and then she sees him. Her father, after all these years. She can feel her heart leap up, and has to put in a lot of effort to not smile. There is pain, but that doesn't compare to seeing someone who had always been there for her. Until she took away his memories, it still hurts, to even think about it. And now it is the same. He doesn't know her, at all. To him, she is just another strange girl, who just so happens to be the same age as his daughter.

"Hello Gerald? Hermione said that you were here. Is there anything that we can do?", even now his voice feels soothing, calming. She knows that she will never have that kind of bond with Neil and Shirley.

"Yes, I'm sorry for interrupting your day off, but I saw this young lady here, and she has a little problem that she needs help with. And you were the first who came to mind."

"Of course, I'm always ready to help." Her father kneels down to her, looking at her with his honest brown eyes. "Hello there! I'm dr. Granger. Who are you?"

It takes an even greater effort to not smile in ecstasy. She missed him so much. "I'm Rainbow. My tooth hurts."

"Well then Rainbow, come with me. Where are your parents?"

"They are at home, I came here with my friend, Linda, who is at the market, selling vegetables.", she replies, repressing the urge to say that they are right here.

"And what happened to you?", he asks, his voice full with care.

"I, I was eating ice cream, and bit on the cone. And then it hurt, and when I felt, half my tooth was gone!"

"Does your friend, Linda, know where you are?"

"No, she couldn't leave, but he", she points at Mr. Dowling, "was really nice and brought me here."

"Fixing your tooth will take some time, do you have any way to contact her?", he asks, sounding concerned. She missed it so much, having parents who actually worried about her. Shirley doesn't even blink when she comes home late at night, and never asks where she goes. And Neil is even worse in that regard.

"No, but maybe he can tell her where I am, and she can come to pick me up when the market's over?", Hermione recommends, feeling more and more awkward with calling herself that.

"Yes, good thinking, Rainbow.", M. Dowling reacts, "Then I'll go there right away, how do I recognize your friend?"

"She is at a stall with a large sign in all the colours of the rainbow. It says 'Organic and Clean Fruits and Vegetables', there is only one of them, so it should be easy to find."

"I'm going then, good luck Rainbow, and see you later!", the policeman says before he turns around and heads back to his car. But she has no eyes for him. She only looks at the familiar house, and the all-too familiar face of her father.

She follows him inside, looking around, and recognizing every little thing. The pictures on the walls, even the spots on the floor. It all is familiar, far too familiar for someone who hasn't been there for almost a decade. She finally understands how much she has missed all this, and the knowledge that she will never have it back hurts her to her very core, almost bringing her to tears despite the happiness of seeing it all again.

She is brought to the door that separates the house from the practice, which she wasn't allowed to go through except in real emergencies. The door leads to the central hallways, and her father walks on, towards the little waiting room, with the building blocks and the old magazines, she can't recall them ever being replaced. "You will have to wait here for a few minutes, I have to get some things ready, okay?"

"I will wait here", she smiles at him, feeling more at home than she has in many years, perhaps more than she has in both of her lives together. The door is closed, and she is left alone, in the waiting room. She knows all the magazines by heart, and she decides that she should try to spend her time in a productive way. She sits down on the blue miniature chair in front of the table with the legos and places one of the blocks in front of her. And again she repeats the incantation: "Wingardium Leviosa"

Nothing happens, as always. But she tries again and again, losing herself in her little game. Again she repeats the spell, and this time there is movement. The little yellow block flies up into the air, floating in front of her eyes.

She smiles widely, and hears herself say: "How did you do that?"

Wait, she did not say that. It is her other her. With her eyes wide open she turns her head towards the door, which is slightly ajar, with Hermione's head sticking through it.

And the question is repeated: "How did you make it fly?"

Her mind is racing: "Come in and close the door, I will try to explain it."

Slowly Hermione, the one with the actual name, walks into the room, and warily approaches the little witch. She knows it now, she has magic.

"Okay, ehm, yeah, ehm, this, ehm", she starts, "well, you see, ehm, there is this thing."

The girl looks at her as though she has been hit by a confundus charm, but still she tries to say this in a non-stupid way. "Okay, let's start over. I'm a witch", she blurts.

That came out a little less intelligent than she had hoped to. Why couldn't she be the one who is good with words? Hermione looks at her with even more confusion, before she replies: "No, witches are from stories. They're not real."

And then she remembers. Professor McGonagall had a hard time convincing her that magic was real, and had to demonstrate several spells in order to convince her. And Rainbow can only do this one, barely. It worked once so far, after years of trying. "Well, I am a witch, how else could I make the lego float? I'm just not a very good one, yet."

"Really? It's not some sort of trick?"

She needs a lie, and a good one, to explain this. "No, ehm, some time ago I found this scrap of paper, no, not paper, parchment. Well, on this parchment there was a description of being able to make something float when you say the right words, and make the right movements. It said that you need a wand for it, but I don't have one, so I used my finger. I tried it a lot, I always do that when I'm alone and don't have a book with me. It never really worked, but it was nice to imagine it. And when I tried it just now, it actually worked!"

Hermione's face goes through a dozen states, from shock, to surprise, to anger and finally the one that it bears most often, curiosity. "Can you teach me?"

"I can try. But it took me a lot of time. So, ehm, you hold your finger like this, and then you make this swooshing movement, pointing at the thing you want to float. And while you do that, you have to say 'wingardium leviosa', exactly like that, or it won't work. I think, I only got it to work just now with that pronunciation."

And Hermione starts trying, without any success of course. "Can you show it again?"

And again Rainbow tries the spell, and finds that it works again. But this doesn't make her as happy. It instead worries her. What if Hermione can't do magic? What if she never goes to Hogwarts? That would be terrible. It would ruin everything that should still work out, without her Harry will never have any success, especially not if he still befriends that dimwit, Ron.

"How long did it take you to learn it?"

"I've been trying it since I was five, so more than two years now."

"Wow, so, it is really difficult?"

"I think so. But maybe it is easier with a wand. It has to be, the pa-parchment said something about a wand."

"What is a wand?"

"I, ehm, don't know. Some sort of magic stick I think.", she replies, trying to not betray too much.

Before more questions can be asked, she can hear footsteps approaching, and she lets the block drop and whispers: "This is our little secret, okay? Just don't tell anyone."

The door opens, and her father enters: "Rainbow, can you come with me? We can take a look at your tooth now."

She follows, leaving herself behind in confusion. But after a short time she already hears the spell again, bringing a smile to her face.

He motions her to sit down on the large chair, which she has been in quite often in her old life, and sits down himself, getting out a piece of paper. "I'm really sorry, but before we begin, I have to fill in this form."

She nods in understanding. The muggle government is almost as bad as the Ministry.

"Now, first of all, your last name, it's Star right? And your first name is Rainbow?"

Again she nods. "Yes"

He scribbles something down, in his utterly unreadable handwriting. "And your birthday?"

"September 21", she answers.

"And do you know which year?"

"1979"

"So, you're seven now?"

"Yes"

XxXxX

Thanks a lot for reading this chapter. Please let me know what you think of it, even if you consider it to be horrible.


	8. Chapter 7: Addled

Hello again everyone. After writing the last chapter I decided to use the name Rainbow for the Hermione from the future from now on, and Hermione for the one from this timeline. There will be more scenes with both of them in it, and nothing is as confusing as reading something like: "Hermione looks at Hermione, and says: "Hermione, …" ", I know that this isn't entirely faithful to the original, but I don't see another way to keep things a little clear. And a conversation between the two of them is one thing, but if there are more people around, it would be even worse. So, I hope that you can understand the reason behind this. And if you don't, please tell me why. If my reasoning is wrong, I will obviously change things again.

And I have to say that I am really sorry for taking this long to write this, I was horribly busy with work, and well, my writing suffered. I hope that you can forgive me. It also is a little short, but it is the best I can manage now, and I want to let you know that this isn't dead.

 **DoDo1401:** Well, I kindof had to have her capable of doing some magic, otherwise it would be nothing more than her being in the muggle world, and sending a few letters, before getting hunted down and getting killed. _"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."_ , like Tolkien put it.

 **sweet-tang-honney:** Thank you very much for your comment. Updating soon is something that I definitely hope to do as soon as possible. Which should be about now. But stupid joking aside, I'm sorry for not keeping the earlier tempo, I've just had a rather hellish week.

 **CHAOSprimer:** Thank you, but I think that I can't say yet which pairings will be there. That is for the future, when the characters are at least a little older.

 **Chapter 7: Addled**

Rainbow is sitting in the living room that she once knew so very well. She still knows it, but she can't show it, which is causing her considerable difficulties. Just like calling her parents Mr. Granger and Mrs. Granger, and not mom or dad, like she normally would have. She has been told that she can't eat anything solid for three days, and that she should also be careful with anything hot, or sweet for that matter, definitely no soft drinks, which she luckily isn't even allowed to have, because they're poisonous. And she doesn't really want to eat right now, it feels like half of her mouth has had a whole pumpkin stuffed into it, and well, she doesn't feel a thing there. Or taste anything for that matter.

Which is quite annoying, because she would love to have been able to drink some apple juice, which is actually a little sweet, unlike the apple juice that Linda makes. That's just downright terrible, far too sour, but adding any kind of sugar is seen as bad, and not because it is bad for her teeth, but rather, because it is bad for her internal balance. The people around her tend to say a lot of nonsensical things, and when she brings up that she read differently, they merely tell her that the books are not true, and are under the influence of some sort of group. Or The Man, whoever that might be. She used to think that he might be some sort of muggle you-know-who, but she has never really gotten any kind of explanation.

And now she is sitting in the corner where she used to play, always alone. But now she isn't. She sits there with her younger self, who remains completely ignorant. The only difficulty that she faces it not reacting to her former parents, and they leave the two girls mostly alone. Already knowing that their daughter likes being left alone, and probably very happy that she finally has someone else to play with, even if the playmate might be a little too strange for them.

And they aren't really playing, just talking really. "I tried really hard, but I didn't get it to work at all."

Rainbow replies in a serious tone: "That's because it takes a lot of time and effort. Just practice when you're alone. I don't think that adults can do it at all."

Or at least, that is what she wants to say, it comes out more like she has had a whole bottle of firewhiskey. And like her mouth is filled with cotton wool, which might actually be an apt description for how it feels. She can hardly move her tongue. It reminds her of the twins, and their ton-tongue toffees, and suddenly she feels sad again. And Hermione seems to notice: "Is there something wrong?"

She quickly has to device a lie, she can't very well tell the story of the whole war now. Or ever for that matter. "I was just thinking that I will have to go home soon. And I live far away from here, we might never talk again."

Hermione leans over to her, to try to distinguish what she is saying. "Don't be silly. You can come visit again. And we can write letters. You can write, right?"

"Of course I can write", she mumbles.

"Then we can be pen-friends."

XxXxX

After a lot of banter, about magic tricks, writing, school and books, mostly their shared favourite, Matilda, Rainbow can hear the distinctive sound of the van arriving. It is not only the sound of the engine, there are plenty of vehicles with one like it, but rather the clanking of random parts of it. That particular issue is caused by a very simple thing, a complete lack of funds for new parts, even when James does his utmost to keep the thing in working order. But even he hasn't been able to stop the ever more frequent breakdowns, such as when one of the doors just fell off when it was opened. She likes trying to help with fixing it, but James just says that she is too small and should go away, even though she already knows a little from her own experience.

She looks back, and can see the Grangers looking aghast at the vehicle that now stands in front of their house, belching environmentally-unfriendly black smoke. And of course, the small garden on the roof and the rather colourful exterior also aren't things that are usually seen in this neighbourhood. A little later the familiar doorbell rings, and her mother goes to the door, while Hermione asks: "Is that your car?"

"It is ours, basically. But no one really owns it, it is shared, just like everything else."

"Everything? Even your toys?"

Rainbow nods, remembering that it shocked her at first, sharing absolutely everything. "Yes, but I'm the only child, and the grownups mostly don't play with them."

She doesn't tell Hermione about the times that they act funny, because of some things they had, figuring that it might mean a very quick end to any correspondence, which might be all too necessary. Or at least, that is what she tells herself, the actual reason is that she likes having a link back to her old self, to her old home, even though she can never have it all back. It gives her a sense of belonging and it makes her more conscious of why she has to do all this. To stop _him_ from destroying everything that she holds dear.

The conversation is interrupted when Linda is brought to the living room. She quite obviously managed to shock her mother already, who has been rendered speechless by something. Linda immediately heads towards the children in the corner.

"Hey!", she speaks slowly, and given her smell, Rainbow knows why, which also explains why she is late. She has been smoking again, which means that she must have been lucky to avoid the police. And it also explains why her mother is so surprised, she remembers that she really didn't like that sort of thing. "So, wanna go home?"

She can hear soft whispering between her parents, and sees them looking towards them in a way that is best described as worried. It gives her a bad feeling about herself, and she suddenly feels anxious to leave. Half-understandably she answers: "Yes, I feel tired."

XxXxX

With unexpected speed they have left the Granger household, nothing was said, but the meaning was clear, they were no longer welcome. And event he not entirely present Linda noticed it. When she finally gets the van started she says: "I guess they're not very nice people."

That remark makes Rainbow's blood almost boil. She loves them, she loves being there, and now Linda of all people is insulting them. And to make things worse, they might not let Hermione write her anymore. All because Linda couldn't resist smoking that awful stuff. "They were nice to me. And helped me with my tooth. And Hermione is going to be my pen-friend!"

Saying her name when talking about someone else is really strange, just like thinking of herself as someone else.

"That's nice. But I guess that her parents don't really like us."

"Maybe", she answers, not wanting to talk about this at all, when she remembers her original plan. "Could we pull over soon? I want to talk, and I don't want to come home like this, there might be a lot of questions then."

"Sure"

A little later the van has been parked at the side of the road, without it crashing into anything, which, considering Linda's swaying driving style is actually saying something. "Linda, you said that we could talk about Neil, and when he was my age."

"Did I? O, I guess I kindof forgot.", is the answer, sounding slurred.

"Yes, you said it to me in the garden, yesterday."

Linda looks at her sheepishly, she has really smoked again. "Meh, I feel hungry. Can you get something from the back?"

XxXxX

A few hours later Rainbow starts to feel her tongue again, and more importantly, Linda has become a bit more focused, especially after an improvised salad. "So, what do you know about Neil?"

"Only what Shirley told me.", Linda replies, "she told me that Neil just appeared one day, at King's Cross, with this paper with his name and birthday on it. Nothing else. Really weird, they never found his parents and he went into a home. He didn't like it, which is only normal, with them being fascists and all that."

"Just a piece of paper? What sort of clothes did he have?"

"I don't know, he keeps all of that in an old suitcase. At least, that's what Shirley told me."

Rainbow knows which one it has to be, she never opened it, not finding it all that interesting, just a worn old thing. But now she resolves to find a way to take a look, without anyone finding out. She just has to solve this riddle, even if she knows that it has little to do with stopping _him_. The thought alone sends a shiver down her spine, even after all these years. _He_ is out there, somewhere. Haunting, crawling through the darkness. And plotting something that she knows all too well. Untold horrors which have to be stopped.

"Rainbow? Is there something wrong?", Linda asks, slightly afraid.

It shakes her back to reality, and away from her memories. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about, ehm, how bad it must have been for Neil."

The woman looks at her incredulously: "Really? You suddenly looked really pale, and were sweating. Are you sure that they didn't poison you in that place?"


	9. Chapter 8: Old Dust

So, here it finally is, the eighth chapter of this story. There have been no comments on the name thing, so I decided to stick with it. So, Rainbow is the old Hermione who went back in time, and Hermione is the one we all know and love. This chapter should actually have been a part of the previous one, which is why it is a little short, but I was limited in time when I posted it, and wanted to put at least something up. Please tell me what you think about it.

 **Chapter 8: Old Dust**

Rainbow wakes up, dreaming about the day before. About meeting herself, and speaking to herself. The experience has been very confusing, but she learned some things, things that might make this world a better place even if _he_ is out there, somewhere, plotting _his_ return. It is still early, she can see that through her window. She has no clock, her parents tell her that clocks are dictators, and that she shouldn't let her life be dominated by them, like so many people are. The girl disagrees, she thinks that it is helpful to know the time, to be able to plan things.

She has promised it to herself, she will get a watch when she has access to money, when she goes to Hogwarts. It is a certainty now, the magic has worked, even without wand. But instead of a smile, it brings a frown to her face. She shouldn't have let Hermione catch her, now she will try, and wandless magic is very hard, and it might hurt her when it fails. That would be horrible. But at the very least she has shown that she can affect the world, that she can change things, unlike with the timeturner. She can make it all better, but first there are other things.

She feels ashamed, but she is very hungry. She had hardly any dinner, only a few pieces of cucumber, and she had fallen asleep before she could eat at home. Not that it would have been easy, after the anesthetics in her mouth. She could hardly chew, but now she can feel her mouth again, and it doesn't hurt, even though the gap feels very strange. She steps from the bed, and sees blackness in front of her eyes.

That happens quite often, and she sits back down, catching her breath. She never had that issue in her old life, and she has often wondered why that would be. Her best guess is that it's just something in this body, just like her poor eyesight. After a few breaths she tries again, and she stands, walking to the nightstand with her glasses. Putting them on she sees clearly again, and she knows what she has to do.

She puts on yesterday's dress, and silently slips from her room, to the kitchen, to grab something to eat. She is as hungry as Ronald used to be. The thought saddens her, she should have acted differently, been clearer, and this might not have been necessary.

But there also is another voice, in the back of her head. It tells her that it's not her fault, but his. He ruined everything, he shouldn't have run off, making Harry feel terrible. He was the one who was always jealous, always possessive. If only he had never been there. She resists the thought, it is a bad one, and she knows it. But she can't shut up the soft voice, no matter the arguments.

In the kitchen she finds herself a quick meal, some jam and home-baked bread, that for some reason has no taste whatsoever and is extremely dry. She still hates it, but it's all there is, and it's supposed to be healthy. The jam was made by Linda, and is a little better, although Rainbow remains convinced that strawberry jam shouldn't be sour. She drinks some water, letting the tap run for a few moments first. Their habitation here isn't entirely legal, and not everything is well-maintained. The first bit of water always seems a little green, but that's normal, according to Neil.

And that reminds her. She eats her little meal, and heads to the attic, where she thinks the old suitcase might be. She recalls it, a leather thing, at least twenty years old and it looks like it might fall apart at any moment. There is no electrical light there, the bulb was broken when they got here, and no one ever got to replacing it, also because they never have any spares. But there still is a little light, coming through the cracks in the wall.

She wants to drag the heavy bag to the largest crack, so she can look inside, but it is heavy, far too heavy for her. And then it strikes her, she is a witch, and witches don't drag heavy objects. They have a solution for it: "Wingardium Leviosa"

She points, and gestures, and she sees a little movement. With more confidence she tries again, and the suitcase is lifted a few inches off the ground. A few moments later it is where it is supposed to be, by the broken wall. And then she notices it, it is locked, and she has no idea where the key might be. She knows a spell for it, but doesn't trust that she will ever be capable of doing it wandless. That magic is a bit more complex, and her curiosity almost demands that she opens it right now.

She tries the spell, which fails, and then she spots it, a tear coming up from the bottom of it. She easily turns it around, and she sees that it is a large jape, and she can fit her hands through it. Inside she feels, first, what seems to be a shoe. It takes some tearing, and further opening of the hole, but then she has it. A brown leather shoe, obviously of good quality. She looks inside, it looks as though it was almost never worn, no traces of sweat or the usual dirtiness of used shoes. Even the name of the maker remains perfectly clear. One Merrywater of Edinburgh, which might mean that Neil comes from somewhere in Scotland. She knows that there are trains from there to King's Cross, but it remains strange to bring a boy all that way, just to leave him in London.

Some careful dragging soon produces the second shoe, which remains pristine, like the first. Not even a scratch. As if they come right from the store. She continues, and finds a pair of trousers. They too are brown, and finely made, they must have been expensive. And again, there is no sign of wear, and another mark, from what must have been the tailor, in the back. Robert Malkin.

Immediately she knows that there is something strange about it. She thinks for a few moments, and then she knows. She recognizes the name, but nor from an ordinary place. Oh no, it was a store in Diagon Alley. If that is true, it explains why the police could never trace him back to anyone. But it doesn't explain why all this happened. But it is a hint, and it could explain the parchment. Neil might be connected to the wizarding world somehow, but how?

The rest of the suitcase reveals little of interest, not even a hint of a name or anything. But then she finds it, a small piece. At first she thinks that it is just a loose piece of leather, but it is too thin for that. It has to be parchment. She removes it carefully. It is well-made, better than most of the parchment that is used in Hogwarts. It must have been expensive, which can mean only one thing, a rich family.

She looks at it in the dim light. The black ink remains perfect, and the name is there, in swirling handwriting, to the left of the parchment along with the birthday, under it, in the middle. It looks like it was cut from a larger sheet, as it is a little small, and one of the edges is slightly irregular. She looks closely at the handwriting, but she can't place it anywhere.

She hears a sound, below her. Someone must have woken up already. She quickly stuffs everything back into the suitcase, and directs it back to its previous place. Someone is climbing the stairs, and she sits down, cross-legged. And then she notices it, the parchment, she forgot to put it back. She quickly takes it, and puts it in her pocket.

Neil's head pops through the hatch: "Hi Rainbow. What are you doing here?"

She thinks for a few moments, before she replies: "I wanted to go to a quiet place, a little higher than my bed."

"Shirley says that you shouldn't go here, you might fall, and it is a little windy."

"Okay, I'll come down."


	10. Chapter 9: Letters

Hi again, after another delay I finally have chapter 9 ready. My time has been limited lately, and it will probably get worse over the next few weeks, so I don't know when I will be able to update again.

 **Xandermartin98:** Thank you very much for your supporting words, they mean a lot to me.

 **Rebecca-in-blue:** I really want to thank you for your two reviews. As you have probably seen by now, Hermione got born in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Basically, she has made herself an addition to the past, with all the good and bad things it implies. And you are entirely correct in your assumption that she is blaming herself for a lot of things that she couldn't influence, which is something that she already did a little in canon, and I figured that being on the losing side of a war, and the loss of everything and everyone she loved would make it only worse. I really wanted to focus a few chapters on her birth, and the pregnancy, because those will be the moments that really introduce her to her new life.

 **Screaming Faeries:** Thank you for your comment. Praise coming from you really makes me feel very good about myself. I tend to use the present tense mostly, I think that it comes from being involved in quite a few play by post games, where it is the norm. And of course, I have the feeling that it really helps for more action-oriented parts, which I plan on doing in later chapters.

 **FireGuardian89:** Thanks a lot for coming back to review another chapter.Especially the first real chapter was difficult to write, I have little personal experience with being in an unborn state (that I can remember, although I've also never gotten a single spell to work, despite repeated attempts). I really appreciate your taking the trouble to point out how I could improve my sentences, it is something that I find very hard to do properly. I have always found things like internal dialogue very difficult to pull off, which is why I tend to be somewhere between an omniscient and a personal third person narrator. Essentially, the narrator is based entirely in Hermione's point of view, and almost anything that is written is her thought.

 **Carameltootsieroll:** I know how you feel, most of the stories that I have reviewed for these games have been in fandoms that I had never actually heard of. I don't know why I like commas so much, but it might be because of some parts of my education, where I learned to separate all the parts of a sentence with them. I will however try to reduce their use. I'm really grateful for your pointing it out to me.

 **Get wisdom:** Thank you for your review. I wanted to do something with time, and figured that the place to be would be the time-chamber. And the bell jar just fitted my needs quite well. Almost as if our beloved author had put it there for that very reason. Or maybe I'm just desperate for approval of any kind.

 **Holly The Sparkling Unicorn:** I can see why you don't generally like time-travel stories, some of them tend to end up with either easily fixing the whole world, or, in the more acceptable cases, to just bring a desired pairing together. How everything ended up and how it all went is not a main theme of this story, but more details will come later on.

 **Chapter 9: Letters**

Rainbow reads the letter that has just been delivered. She is happy that Hermione is allowed to write her, even though the writing is still very childish. But it makes her feel a little at home, something she still misses, and feels guilty about. She knows that she did it to save them, but still, taking their daughter away from her parents was a terrible thing to do. Perhaps the worst she has done in her whole life.

On the top of the paper there is a drawn rainbow, and then the letter begins:

Hi Rainbow,

Mommy says that I should begin like this.

How are you?

Everything here is fun.

Yesterday we went to the zoo.

There were lots of animals.

There were giraffes and lions and rhinos and many more.

First we drove there in the car.

And then we bought tickets

A picture was taken of me.

It is at home.

I saw lots of animals.

And I had pancakes.

They were really nice.

And then I had ice cream.

And there were lots of snakes.

They were really scary.

But I wasn't afraid.

They were really large.

And then we went home.

But first I bought a tiger.

I called her Tigy.

Goodbye.

Hermione.

The letter makes her smile, even though she is ashamed that she once wrote like that. She remembers the visit to the zoo quite well, it was when she had gotten one of her favorite toys, the rhino she called Rhiny. But somehow Hermione didn't buy that one, she bought a tiger. She misses it, just like she misses everything from her past. She had taken away every little thing, every trace of her ever existing. Wiping away her own past, to save those she loved the most.

She knows that she might have to do the same, if _he_ ever returns. She has to protect Neil and Shirley, and perhaps even Linda and whoever she happens to be dating when it happens. The thought of ever doing that again hurts, taking away someone's memories is worse than the unforgivable curses. She understands that some small memory alterations might be necessary, for instance when muggles see too much. But taking away their whole lifes. That is something truly horrible, and they will never know. It can be worse even than killing someone, to do it to someone others hold dear, to give them only the empty shell, but nothing of what was within. It can be like the dementor's kiss in that regard, except that the victim can learn again, to become a new person. But the old is gone, unless the memories are restored.

She has found some paper and a pen, Neil tends to use them for whatever he is working on, and Rainbow starts writing herself, careful to not give away too much. She knows that no one at her home will read it, but Hermione and her parents will, and they can't know that their correspondent is far ahead of where she should be. Rainbow is fortunate that Hermione agreed to send the first letter, otherwise she would never have known what her level should have been. She puts her pen on the paper, and starts to write.

Hello Hermione,

I was really happy to receive get your letter.

Things here are going very well. I feel good!

After only two lines she has already scratched out most of it, was she really this stupid when she was younger? Why didn't anyone tell her? But still, the woman in a girl's body continues.

The zoo sounds nice

I've never visited been to a zoo

Shirley made a painting

It was of me and my books

She is going to sell it at the

No, Rainbow reminds herself, no long complex sentences, she can't use them yet. Especially not in writing.

And that is sad

I like the painting a lot

Say hi to Tigy

I will write again

Goodbye,

Herm Rainbow

She looks over her scratched letter, and writes it all down again, now without all the corrections, and folds the paper. She heads back to what passes for Neil's study. It is little more than an old table, with a typewriter and some stacks of paper. There are shelves with old books, but those are not exclusive to the old room, they are spread throughout the house, without any apparent system in them. And that in turn is why it always takes quite some time to find anything. Nobody even places books back where they find them, they just use the closest empty space.

But in one of the drawers, there is what she needs. An envelope, and some stamps. Rainbow didn't really ask for any, but she knows, or rather, guesses that she can just take them. She never really used the muggle post all that much in her old life, and never at all in the new one, but the girl has a ready-made plan to determine how much she should use, she looks at Hermione's envelope, and uses the same amount. The Grangers would never make a mistake with such things.

When that is done, Rainbow heads down the stairs, and shouts: "Hey! I'm going to the village! To post my letter!"

She hears a shout of affirmation from Shirley, who doesn't bother to check on her daughter, and the young witch takes her bicycle. The village is about a mile away from the old farm they're living in, and she sometimes goes there, unsupervised of course. There are no real rules, and there are very few things that she's not supposed to do. And those are things like being violent. Going wherever she wants is not one of them.

And so she starts, going on her way. It's not fast, but it gives her time to think. After some time she feels something in her pocket, and she feels. It is the parchment, she still has to put it back, but hasn't had the opportunity to really do it anytime in the last few days. A little later, she is starting to feel a bit tired, her bike is a bit too small for her now, and so she puts it by the roadside, and sits down for a few moments. Taking out the old piece of animal skin.

Rainbow again looks at it, wondering if it might give her a clue. She had hoped that she would find the truth, but all she got were more question. There is a hint of the wizarding world, but nothing solid. Nothing to really investigate. The stores won't have records of anything, and no one would still remember what should be an ordinary sale. And that would be if it was actually possible to visit them, she can't go to London, or let alone Scotland, to simply ask a question.

No, all she has are the parchment and the clothes. Neil doesn't even have any memories. Everyone tells her that, he doesn't remember anything from before he was at King's Cross. Rainbow knows that she needs more information, anything, but she has no sources. And no one who knows anything that might help. Only herself. And she knows too little to find the solution.

It still confuses her a little, it is a question, but it doesn't help with what's really important. Stopping _him_ from returning. Thinking about the dark wizard makes her skin crawl again, she hears his soft voice, commanding, and speaking his incantations. Always the same, always to the same end. To cause pain and suffering, to escape _his_ own death. She is starting to sweat, even though it is not all that warm, and in front of her eyes she sees that face again, that horrible, terrible, monstrous face that haunts her nightmares.

XxXxX

Half an hour later she arrives at the village, having driven the dark lord from her mind again. There are a few people looking at her, cycling alone through the streets, but most know that there is, as they call it, a bunch of weirdoes living nearby, and that Rainbow is their daughter.

She puts her bike against the post office's wall, and goes inside. There is a woman sitting behind a desk, and a few people who are sitting around, waiting. Everyone has drawn a piece of paper with a number on it from a machine, and Rainbow does the same. She climbs onto one of the chairs, and looks at her surroundings.

In front of her there is an old man, who has a huge chin, which points further ahead of him than his nose. He has some sort of package with him, and keeps glancing at a clock. Next to him is a woman, who sits there with her son, who Rainbow guesses to be about three years old. He keeps pulling on his mother's shirt, and she keeps on pushing his grasping hands away while trying to read a flyer about postal rates.

She herself sits next to an old lady, who has envelopes with her. She seems to be shivering slightly, despite the heat inside the building. Rainbow sits there for a few moments, thinking about which spell she should try to get to work without wand next when the old lady croaks: "Excuse me, dear, but could you help me with something?"

Rainbow turns to look at her: "Yes?"

"It must be because I'm getting old, but I just remembered that Emily moved from her house to a retirement home down the street. And I forgot to bring my spectacles. Could you be a darling and tell me which address I put on the card for Mrs. Good?", she asks, almost sounding shy.

"Oh, ehm, of course. Which one is it?"

"One of these. I'm really sorry, but I can't read what's on them. You see, I am going to have a birthday party, my husband is turning eighty next week, and these are the last few invitations.", she hands Rainbow the envelopes, about a dozen. She soon finds the one addressed to one Mrs. Good, and she reads it out loud: "43 Windermere Close, Cherry Hinton, CB1 5BL"

"Oh dear, that's not where she lives anymore.", the old woman replies, a little anxious.

"Do you want me to write in a new address?", Rainbow asks.

She smiles: "That would be lovely. I wrote it all in pencil, so it should be easy enough to replace it. Here, let me get my address book. There should also be a pencil in my handbag."

She searches for a few moments, and hands Rainbow an old leather-bound book and a worn pencil with a snapped tip, but with an eraser at the end. Rainbow flips through the book and soon finds the right address.

She erases the old words, and looks at the name, without anything under it now. Only the faint remnants of lines. Rainbow looks at it for a few moments, causing the old lady to remark: "Is something the matter, dear?"

"Oh now. I'm sorry. I was just looking if this is the right one."

"Is it the one in Bury St. Edmunds?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Then it should be the correct address. She moved there just last year. To be closer to her daughter, you see?"

Rainbow writes in the new address, not really focused, and hands it back to the stranger. "Here you are, it should all be fine now."

XxXxX

On her way back to the old farm Rainbow thinks, she might finally have a solution to her problem. By the side of the road she takes out the parchment, and looks at it again, in the sunlight. The girl can't make out anything that would indicate an eraser, but she does recall far more effective spells at that task. And counterspells. But that is complex magic, far beyond anything she can do now. It would take her years to master it. But still she tries. She taps the paper: "Reveal yourself"

She gasps, surprised. The moment she finishes, she can feel a hint of magic, and she sees it happening, right in front of her eyes. From the paper, right next to Neil's first name, black ink seems to well up, forming blots. The blots drift, holes form in them, and they stretch into different directions. Slowly, she can make out the shapes of letters, but they still seem to switch before her eyes, and so she waits, curious what will happen, what they will reveal.

She finally sees it, and she cries out, sending her scream into the country. There is a name.

Neil Yaxley


	11. Chapter 10: Trials

Hi, if there is anyone still reading this. I've been very busy over the last few months, as I first visited my rather conservative family (Don't tell them that I like girls, fanfiction or Harry Potter) which meant no writing during summer. And then I got back, but it seems that my computer didn't survive the flight, so I had to get a new one. Added to that, at work they installed something that shows my boss which sites I visit, and I figure that they shouldn't know that I hang around on this site while I should be working. Furthermore, my workload has multiplied itself, several projects are finally working, and I have to do a lot more just to get everything in order for a bunch of nice publications. And, to make things more fun, just before summer I got a new girlfriend, and she is eating up quite some of my spare time, which is a good thing, obviously.

Anyways, I got to write this chapter, but I don't know when I will be able to do another, so please, don't expect anything resembling a schedule from me, I'm very sorry for this.

 **The Purebloods:** Thank you for pointing out the error. Unfortunately I lost my old computer with all of the files on it, and the document also isn't accessible on the site anymore. And 'he' indeed refers to Voldemort. I just can't imagine someone who thinks a lot about him using 'you-know who' (I-know-who?) in her head all the time, so I went with just the simple, short word.

 **Carick of the hunter moon:** The big difficulty to me is keeping everything straight, time travel is a concept that I still find hard to even vaguely comprehend, but the butterflies are flapping their wings, at first only in small things of course, but things will escalate to mothra-sized proportions. And thank you for the recommendations, I will read them when I get some time for it.

 **Guest:** Thank you for your compliment. But I have to admit that I'm cheating a little, I'm doing my PhD in the UK, so I hear some occasional English around me.

 **Giggles:** Thanks, I hope that I can get better over time, even if I have far less writing time than I would like to have.

 **Psycocavr:** Being in the body of a child is something that I have wondered about quite a bit, I think that it in the end must be really disorienting, and I hope to represent the difficulty in coming to terms with such things.

 **DjinniFires:** Thank you for your compliments, they mean a lot to me. I also really want to thank you for pointing out ways in which I could improve the writing, as I explained The Purebloods, I don't have access to the files anymore, so I can't make edits, but I will certainly keep everything in mind when writing new chapters. I figured that I should mention her orientation in the beginning, first of all because it is the point of divergence with canon, and secondly, because I know that some people are uncomfortable with reading about such relationships.

 **RainbowJH:** A squib like that has been an idea that has been in the back of my head ever since I first read about the whole pureblood-thing, and now I finally got an opportunity to use him. This story is essentially one that I have been thinking about for years, at least, for the first part, for the later parts I still have several different directions that things could take. And of course, I'm always open to suggestions. I'm trying to do a reasonable amount of research, but I have to make a horrible confession: I don't have physical copies of the books, my parents didn't allow them, so I sneakily borrowed them from friends. At some point I actually bought them, but my ex took them away. So I'm mostly relying on memory and wiki's.

The way I see the Grangers is as a very open-minded and tolerant family, who might not like Linda at all, but would feel sorry for the poor girl in her hands. I always pictured Hermione as someone with very few friends from a young age, so they would be happy for their daughter to have a pen friend at least. Shirley will come up a bit more later on, it's just that Linda is quite a bit of fun to write. I won't say if Hermione has magic, it is something for later of course. One of the reasons why I chose this kind of family for Rainbow is that I have often wondered what growing up in such an environment would be like, with both the good and the bad parts. But yes, it's not good for Rainbow's health at all.

 **Chapter 10: Trials**

Rainbow sees herself, dressed in plum-coloured robes that she knows all too well from many articles in the Daily Prophet, and a plethora of portraits in many of the books that find their home in the Hogwarts library. The robes of a member of the Wizengamot. She feels intensely pride, and smiles at her mirror image, that smiles back at her from the glass between the golden frame.

She finds herself seated in a familiar room, the courtroom of the Ministry of Magic. She is seated in the front, and looks to her left, where she can see a shadowy shape sitting in the place of the Chief Warlock. She looks further around herself, and sees more shadows seated in the high benches. Below her she sees an empty seat, with chains in place to hold whoever might be seated there.

A call resounds: "Bring in the prisoner!"

Doors on the other side of the large room open, and the first thing Rainbow sees is not one thing, but two. Tall, broad figures in the robes of Death Eaters. In front of them walks another, and behind him, she sees the figure that might be the most familiar person in her whole life. Herself. Not her current self, but her old self, when her name was still Hermione and she had fled defeat. She is forced into the chair, and the chains snare the young woman who wears a tattered shirt and jeans as Rainbow watches.

The figure who led her in stands aside, and moves a hand over his mask, revealing his brutish face, one of the faces that she has come to hate and fear, Yaxley. He speaks: "My lord, your honour. I will plainly show that the prisoner who sits here before you was caught red handed showing magic. Showing magic of an almost witch-like nature. This will not do."

She feels her heart beating, but not like she knows she should, not in fear. Only in excitement. Down below she sees herself, obviously afraid. The disembodied voice calls out again: "Call the first witness!"

A bat-like figure approaches, soaring into the room carried by a black cloak. His grimy black hair makes the thin man stand out, and at once Rainbow recognizes one of her least favourite teachers. Snape begins to speak in his slimy voice: "My lord, your honour. I have always said that Granger is no true witch. Throughout her time at Hogwarts, she has always attempted to drag all attention towards herself. She however never showed a hint of true, inborn talent. All she ever achieved was leeching the magic of her fellow students, and studying to pretend that she in fact deserved her magical power. And, my lord, your honour, she even claims to be proud of her muggle heritage. Proud! If only I had had my way, this would never have happened. All this girl is capable of is hard work and stealing glory. I was not capable of it, so I ask you now, pass the sentence!"

Rainbow looks around, but around her she sees only shadows, and hears cries of shock. Below she can see Hermione, who looks passive, even as her own heart feels like it is burning. She wants to stand up, to say something, but she can't, she remains motionless and silent.

With a woosh Snape disappears again, to be followed by a familiar boy walking into the courtroom. He wears Gryffindor robes, topped by bright red hair. Ron speaks, sounding as he so often did, angry: "My lord, your honour. Hermione is not my friend. She never really was. She only pretended to be one. She never cared for me, she only cared for herself, for her own career. When I needed her the most, she turned her back on me. All she did was scold me, for caring for her! If I had known this, if I had known who and what she really is, all this would have never happened. She only spent time with me to feel superior, with her stolen magic, and her constant nagging. She let my friends, true wizards and witches die. She let them die for her, so she could pretend to be a witch! I should have known, but I did not, so I ask you, pass the sentence!"

Ronald turns away, heading through the door, sniffing. Through the same open door another figure enters, accompanied by another pair of Death Eaters. At first it isn't clear who it is, but then she knows it. It is her mother, her original mother. She looks at her daughter, but not with the usual love, or kindness or anything of the kind. All there is in her eyes is disgust. "My lord, your honour. I am so sorry. I loved my little girl, ever since she was born. But I never saw the truth. To her, I was an obstacle, a barrier, to be removed when the time came. I always gave her all the love I could, but she never returned it, she only wanted to study, to further her own ambitions, and to become a witch. She never placed her trust in me, she never told me about what she truly did. That she placed herself in danger, along with her friends. That we, my husband and I, were in peril. She betrayed us, not only by trying to make herself a witch, but also by going against what it means to be human. She is my only child, and she will never give me the grandchildren that I long for. She is unnatural, going against everything it means to be a good girl. When she could have come to me, she instead removed me from her life. With pain in my heart I ask you, pass the sentence."

Rainbow listens, feeling as though her heart is being torn into pieces. Now she not only wants to stand up, she wants to scream, but she can't. Her mother is gone again, and only Yaxley and the imprisoned Hermione remain below. He resumes: "My lord, your honour, the evidence is clear, Hermione Granger is a child of muggles, and has attempted to be a witch, along with all of her many other failings. I ask you, pass the sentence."

As soon as he has stopped, she hears another voice, one that has always haunted her nightmares. It is soft, almost whispering, but at the same time it pierces her every bone. "The evidence presented to the Wizengamot is incontrovertible, there is no need for the council to retire."

She looks to her left, and she sees the figure of her greatest fear, the dark lord himself, right next to her. He continues: "In all my years I have never before seen anyone more deserving of punishment. Pass the sentence!"

She feels herself stand up, a wand in her hand as she glides down, to the floor below. The chains on the chair fall away, and Hermione falls off, landing just before Rainbow. A coil of shadow approaches on her right, coalescing into the form of none other than Draco: "Show her what she deserves", he hisses, before disappearing again.

He is replaced by her former teacher, Dolores Umbridge, who smiles: "Put an end to this disorder."

More and more people appear around her, each of them instructing her to do the deed.

A woman appears to her left, again from the shadows. It is one of the people she fears the most, Bellatrix Lestrange. She coos: "Go, teach the mudblood a lesson, you can do it, the dark lord wants it."

After her no others come, and Rainbow raises her wand. She does not want to do it, but she speaks the words: "Avada Kedavra", and all she sees is a bright flash of light.

XxXxX

She feels warm, and can easily hear herself screaming. She grasps for breath, and she hears a soft voice in her hear: "Hush, hush, don't be afraid. Nothing can happen to you. I will keep you safe."

Her chest hurts, she can feel her heart pounding within as she hears the familiar voice of Shirley. "Don't worry, my sparkling Rainbow, everything will be fine. But tell me, what is wrong? I can help. I will help."

Slowly understanding dawns on Rainbow, she has been dreaming. She often has nightmares, but most are of her memories, what she has already experienced, repeating them over and over again. Not like this. She wonders if it is true, some of it is at least. She tries to focus on the present, but a green haze remains over everything she sees. She whispers: "I had a dream. There were policemen, they wanted to take all of us away, to put us in prison. And that was really bad. They made me eat a really nice rabbit."

"Yes, that's what the fascists do. But I won't let them take you. They won't take any of us. We're free and safe here. And we can always go away again. Just don't be afraid."

"I won't be, you'll be here for me, right?", she has to play a role, although she is often thinking about why everyone who Shirley doesn't like is automatically a fascist, according to what she read, that refers to a horrible movement in the muggle world, not something that still exists outside some fringes. But then again, there are many wizards, some of whom she personally knew, who held beliefs that were at least as absurd.

"Then try to get back to sleep, I will stay here with you, and keep you safe."

XxXxX

Rainbow sits in the garden, under what was once supposed to pass for a shed. Some two years ago Linda's then-boyfriend wanted to help her with growing safe crops, and because they figured that he would need extra space to store all the things they needed, they had put four poles into the ground, and on top of that they placed a large sheet of corrugated iron. Soon thereafter they had broken up, and the newly-built shed had never been used, it only started to gradually collapse, unused, except by the youngest inhabitant of the house.

But now Rainbow sits under the roof, hearing only the hammering of the rain onto it as she reads. She likes sitting there, no one disturbs her, especially when it is raining. She has found a book in the library, written by a famous muggle scientist. According to him, energy and mass are the same, and the speed at which an object moves in turn determines how it perceives time. She finds all the concepts hard to grasp, which is the main reason why she is reading it, she enjoys the challenge. She however fears that it won't do much to help her overcome _him_ , but she just can't think too much about that, not after the recent revelations and her deeply troubled sleep. Every night since she found out she has been having the same dream, and she awakes in the same way. Shirley has actually decided to stay with her during the night, which makes Rainbow feel a little bit better.

Through the drumming rain she suddenly hears another sound, a roaring engine. She looks up, taken away from her book by the unexpected arrival. What is even more unexpected is the vehicle she sees. Almost all visitors drive rather old, and well, more frivolous cars, which are often vividly decorated. But not this one. This is a brand new, shining freshly-washed car. And it is enormous, one of those four-wheel drives that destroy the environment. No one she knows has one of those. It comes to a halt right next to her little shelter.

The man inside is even more alien, he actually wears a tie. Or, as Shirley calls it, a 'Fascist Noose'. Rainbow isn't as harsh about such things, but still, she knows that people wearing a tie don't mean much good for them. She stands up, startling the visitor. He lowers his window: "Hello, you shouldn't be here. Old ruins such as these are dangerous."

She briefly wonders what he means until she figures that he is meaning the house. "But I live here."

"Live here? No. This property has been listed as abandoned. So you can't live here."

"But I do, with my parents, and their friends.", she replies, starting to be worried.

The man leans towards her: "And where are these parents of yours?"

"They're in the house.", Rainbow is starting to feel a little afraid, wondering what this man wants. But whatever it is, it can't be good.

The window is rolled back up, and the stranger steps from the car, into the rain. He rushes towards the house, followed by a running Rainbow, who reaches the door before being out of breath, which isn't that much of an achievement considering the short distance. The door is already opened, by a rather curious Shirley. She takes one look at the visitor, and says, in a way that almost scares Rainbow: "Who are you and what do you want here?"

"Excuse me, but I would ask you what you are doing here. This property has recently been acquired by the community, for the development of a new bypass."

"What? How were we not told about this? We live here!", a visibly irritated Shirley replies.

"The plans have been on display for half a year already, and according to the official records, there is no one living here to be notified."

"But we live here! Me, my friends, my daughter!", the redness in Shirley's face rises alongside the volume of her voice.

"I am very sorry madam, but I do not make the rules. I am only looking at the building, to prepare for its demolition, which has been scheduled for Thursday morning.", the visitor seems to back away a little, but he is not dissuaded from his course of action.

"But it's Tuesday!"

"Yes, it is, and this house will cease to exist on Thursday. Now, if you would kindly allow me entrance, so I can inspect the building for potential hazards."

"You are not entering my house, you fascist pig!", her mother shouts, spraying her visitor with saliva.

The man backs away: "I have documents that show that I am allowed to inspect this building, and I will call the police if necessary."

"You go away! Now! Call your fascist friends!"

XxXxX

I am sorry for the short chapter, but I'm happy that I could at least write something. The nightmare has been based on the final part of Pink Floyd's The Wall, which is one of my favourite albums. And of course, the reason for demolishing the house comes from one of the best Science Fiction stories ever written, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.


	12. Chapter 11: Housing

Hello, me again here. I know that my tempo hasn't been very high lately, but I don't want to give up on this story. And so I wrote this divided over several trips in the train. I hope that you all like it, and please tell me what you think.

 **Psycocavr:** Thanks, The Wall has always seemed like perfect material for a nightmare. I wanted to portray her fears, without having to write something where she is only thinking to herself. And of course, I wanted to shamelessly rip off some of my favourite pieces of culture.

 **Mockingjaybrandybuck:** Thank you very much for your compliments, I hope that you will also enjoy the rest of the story.

 **Carameltootsieroll:** Thanks a lot for pointing out my comma use. It is something that I'm really struggling with, and I have the idea that I'm always doing it wrong. I will certainly keep it in mind when I'm writing the rest of the story. And of course for the rewrites if I ever find the time for them.

 **Salivour:** Thank you for commenting! I never knew that Madam should be capitalized, but I will make sure that I do that from now on. And then there are people who say that writing fanfiction is a complete waste of time. The reason why she doesn't dare to think Voldemort's name is because she is quite traumatized at this point, and she might be rebelling, but mostly because it is her only option.

 **Tirion I:** A girl is happy that a man would read her tale. Thank you for your support.

 **Chapter 11: Housing**

Mere moments after their visitor had left, pursued by the cannonade of Shirley's accusations and insults, everyone had appeared at the doorway. Even Neil had stumbled downstairs from the small room he calls his study. In his slow voice he asks: "Wow, man. What is this heavy stuff about?"

"What this is about?", a still angry Shirley starts, " That pig wants to demolish this house! For a road! Those fascists at the council decided to build it right here, as if the world needs any more of those carbon-belching, rain-acidifying animal crushers!"

"Demolish?", Linda asks, " when will they do that?"

"The day after tomorrow. In the morning.", Rainbow adds, " but can't we do something to stop them? Like protest?"

"O yes we'll protest. We'll protest so hard that those fascists would wish that they had never been born at all.", her mother fumes.

Rainbow looks from her mother to Neil, who has an uncanny resemblance to a lonely puppy, and then to Linda. She seems to be deeply sad, and mutters: " But how about my crops? They're going to kill them all. Where can we go now?"

"I don't care. First we protest, and then we stay here.", Shirley states, not cooling down but rather becoming more focused.

It worries Rainbow and she asks: " But what if they still demolish the house? All of our things are in there. They shouldn't do that, but they are fascists, and they could call the police."

"We can't just let everything be destroyed Shirley, but Rainbow is right. We have to pack things first, put them in the van, and then we make signs.", Linda replies.

"And we put in traps. We can't let them get away with this.", Shirley concedes.

Neil meanwhile looks ever sadder: " Wow, isn't that like a bit heavy? Someone could get hurt you know."

"They should get hurt. They deserve it for driving us from our home.", her mother continues. " It's all the fault of that Thatcherite bunch. They want to destroy everyone, all in the name of money. And now we can strike back at last. "

XxXxX

When Shirley had finally been calmed down a little, with the help of some substances which slow everyone down considerably, they get to work packing. Or rather, they do things that might resemble packing, without any coordination or planning behind it. Neil is in what passes for his study, carefully placing his books and assorted papers into several of Linda's crates. He however might be a bit too careful, as he packs only two books per minute. Shirley meanwhile shoves all of her paints into a garbage back, and then starts gathering up an enormous pile of her paintings. She still paints a lot, but never sells anything, Rainbow can remember each of those occasions, there always was a celebration afterwards. She counted thirty-three sold paintings over her lifetime. While all this is going on in the house, Linda is busy in the garden, she gathers her scattered tools, and actually looks like she is saying goodbye to the soil.

Rainbow has withdrawn to her own room, she doesn't plan on reading later in the day, and gathers up her few possessions in a burlap sack. The little money that she has saved up over the years goes in there, taken from the hiding place in the wall. When they moved to this house, she discovered that the wall was a bit old, and could have used some more maintenance. This led to the little hiding place, in one if the holes behind the old wallpaper. She puts her spare clothes on top of that, she doesn't have many, si it fits easily. And then there is her childhood companion, a mouse that Shirley made her when she was a baby.

When everything is in there, she heads back downstairs, struggling with the weight of the sack. Once it would have been no problem at all, but she isn't as strong as she was in her old life, even though she never was at all strong. All the others are still busy with whatever they chose to do, and not only because they have bigger tasks than Rainbow. None of them is what she would call organized. But her bag is ready, and she puts it in front of the once-red sofa. She sits down for a few moments, giving her vision some time to return. The girl takes long, deep breaths and the blackness drifts back to the edges before disappearing completely.

Rainbow stares at the wall for a few more moments, adjusting her glasses. They are a bit too large for her head, but she figures that it's better than Harry's perpetually broken ones. She often wonders if there is something she can do to make things a bit easier for him, but she knows all too well that there isn't much that she can do. He needs the protection of staying with his relatives, and they are his torment. She can't send him a letter, or visit him to help. Not like she can make her old self a little less lonely. There are just so many people who she can't help now, such as poor, poor Dobby and all the many other enslaved creatures. She wonders if she ever will be. And of course Sirius, who is suffering in Azkaban. She can't free him either.

She has failed them all, she doesn't know what exactly, but there has to be something that she could have done to help. Also in this new life. But instead of that she has been focusing on her own little life, and her own small worries. She has been reading for her own amusement, not to be able to do more to help. And worst of all, she has been hiding here, in safety and comfort. She could just have run away, and have actually done something.

She never deserved to be in Gryffindor, she's not brave, she doesn't have courage. She doesn't even have much in the way of talent. She knows it all too well. Yes, she had decent grades, but every exam has always been a struggle while others didn't even do a fraction of the amount she did, and they came close. Them calling her the brightest witch in her generation can't have been anything else than mockery, just like she has always been mocked. Behind her back and to her face. Only her few friends tried to save her feelings, and she failed them completely.

Through her thoughts she hears some mumbling, ending in Rainbow. "Uhm, what did you say?

She looks up, seeing Neil. " Oh. I'm sorry for disturbing you. But you looked really sad."

She nods, collecting her thoughts, she wants to talkto someone, anyone at all, but she can't say it. Never. "Oh, uhm. It's really sad", she starts to lie, " with the house and all that."

She knows that she isn't convincing, and her face starts to feel warm. Rainbow knows that it is turning some shade of red, but can't help it.

"Yes, I know. Shirley is really angry about it. It's really heavy, but you know that. They're always after us for some reason. But we will find a place, the world is really large, you know? Of course you know, you know a lot."

"The world has a surface of five-hundred and ten million square kilometers, although only one hundred and forty-nine million of them are land.", Rainbow smiles, happy that her lie seems to work.

XxXxX

After a day of packing the house is in an even greater chaos than it usually is. Rainbow could already have told them, but now the adults have also found out that not even half will fit into the old van, even if they stack things dangerously high on the roof. Shirley's forceful personality has prevented an argument from starting, but still, the problems seem insurmountable. Annoyingly enough, James has not returned from his work yet, even though Linda doesn't seem too worried about that. It at least means that all of his things have the lowest priority, essentially meaning that they will be used for barricades, and if Shirley here her way, traps.

The biggest problem is formed by her mother's 'beautiful' paintings, that take up a lot of space. There must be almost a hundred of them, and they can't be abandoned. That would rouse Shirley's anger, and over the last day prior have started fearing that aspect of her. And the rain only makes things worse, there just are so many things that can't get wet, mostly the paintings. So all of them have to go into the van, and on top of the rest, because they're so vulnerable. but Neil wants to take his books, which have been divided over three crates. And of course, Linda doesn't want to abandon all the things she needs for her poison-free farm.

Everyone is sitting on the old sofas, Rainbow reads in a photocopied leaflet called 'SOCIAL JUSTICE!', which gets delivered every week. It is written by some of the friends of the adults, and she knows that Neil and Shirley have also made contributions. The articles are always about how terrible the whole world is, and how all Western governments are evil. She doesn't take it very seriously, but it's better than having nothing to read. At the same time, Shirley, Linda and Neil are all agreeing with each other that it is terrible that they are being thrown out of their home, and that it all is a grave injustice. Rainbow knows those conversations all too well, as they appear as soon as anything happens, and she blocks themselves out.

Just as she is reading an article about why the USSR is actually the changed of worldwide freedom, she hears her name and looks up.

"Rainbow?", Shirley starts, "Are you even listening? What do you think about it?"

She however has no clue what this specific it would be: "Eh, what? I'm sorry, I was reading."

"My idea to call up all our friends", Shirley replies, slightly indignantly, "so we can have a large protest against these filthy fascists."

"That sounds like an idea. But, ehm, wouldn't it be possible to also ask them to help move our things?", Rainbow suggests, asking the most obvious of obvious questions. "And maybe some of them have some space for us?"

"Yeah, I like called some people.", Neil begins, "But it's all heavy, man. I couldn't just like, ask them you know? And Ed's hamster just like died."

Inwardly Rainbow sighs, they are all nice people, with good intentions. But practicality simply isn't a trait any of them has.

Shirley however is not about to let herself be interrupted: "I'll call everyone! We'll gather in the dozens! Perhaps even hundreds! We'll show the pigs, and everyone will know about it! And then, finally, the Revolution!"

She hasn't seen her mother this excited in ages, but then again, she loves protesting the many real and perceived injustices in the world. Rainbow of course tends to agree that things are terrible, but she likes to think that she is better at seeing what's the most important. She decides on another approach, one she is loath to use: "I don't want to not have a home, I'm afraid that they will hurt you, and that they will destroy everything."

Immediately Shirley softened: "They won't, Rainbow, we'll find somewhere, and I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."


	13. Chapter 12: Eviction

Hi everyone. I started writing again after struggling for a bit with where I want to go. But after some considerations I have a plan again, so I will hopefully manage to update semiregularly again.

 **Tirion I:** As far as I recall (and the wiki tells me, how on earth was anyone supposed to write fanfiction before there were wikis?), the birth of magical children is automagically detected by a special quill. This writes down all the names. So, it will have written Rainbow down with the name she was given, essentially making her official wizarding name Rainbow Star. According to what I have been told about British law on the subject, parents can give any name they want, including last name. Rainbow has briefly gone to school, so she has been officially registered. If only to stick it to The Man by using such a name. And it would be a bit too easy for her to let her get away with the name that easily. But she doesn't have any official paperwork, which can lead to an awful lot of fun. The thing I however don't know about is the Trace, which lets the Ministry find wayward pupils who use magic in the holidays. I'm still trying to figure out when it is activated, because there might be questions about certain spells being constantly used in a non-magical household, but only if she is already under the Trace.

 **NoxedSalvation:** Thank you very much for your comments. Reading back everything, I'm not entirely happy with everything that I have, but that put me in a bit of a quandary. I was considering rewriting everything, but I'm afraid that that that would only lead to me losing my motivation, and combined with my lack of time, could only lead to this story dying completely. So, I decided to continue with what I have so far, and only doing rewriting if I ever find myself in a sea of time.

1) I would have liked stretching it a bit more, but it's important to keep in mind that she has been like this for several years now, and as often happens, playing a role all the time, can lead to turning into that role a little. Of course, if there is a sufficient crisis, the old Hermione will certainly show up again. She now is really playing the part of the nice and friendly Rainbow, who just so happens to be a loner and a bookworm.

2a) In hindsight I think that I should have stuck a bit more with what I know. My own childhood was in rather conservative circles, so I never really met anyone like that until quite recently, and even then, things changed over the last few decades. This has led to basing the characters a bit too much on popular culture, in which you are completely correct. I will try to write Neil with a little more intelligence from now on, but there is a reason for his rather odd behaviour.

2b) Shirley is actually based on one of my exes, which might lead to a slightly too negative view. Basically, she uses fascist as a word to describe everyone she doesn't agree with. She might be a bit of an extreme character, but then again, so are the Dursleys, who are just so over the top normal and ordinary. And about the MoM stuff, I was actually planning on putting that in at the moment where it really starts to matter, when the government starts taking action.

2c) Unfortunately, to the very last moment there were a few holdouts who really believed in it. This magazine is essentially a bunch of copied papers stapled together, and prints almost any sort of story. I guess that I should have put a bit more context in it.

2d) I haven't portrayed that, but she basically tried to do that quite early on, and even if she understands some of it, there are parts which she simply can't understand, mostly because of her previous upbringing, and all her other reading. She basically isn't the type for it.

3) Thanks

 **FractiousDay:** The story is meant to be partially serious, the main storyline is serious, but parts of the world are more satirical. It is meant to be a little like how I see the Harry Potter books, where the main story might be very serious, but there are obvious comments about many things in our society.

 **Chapter 12: Eviction**

The great day is finally there. To the vast majority of humanity it is a simple Thursday, but not to those people Rainbow lives with. To them, and to her, this is the day that their home will be demolished for a construction project none of them cares about. And now, with most of their things taken away by friends, Rainbow, her parents, and the half dozen people who decided to stick around, are waiting. The girl sits outside, it's not raining but still it is wet and muddy. She knows that it's inevitable, but that does not mean that it is something she just accepts.

She is outside for a very simple reason, she wants to be alone. Not because she has something to read, but because she can't stand some of the people who are in the house. Mostly her father's friends from university. All they do is shout, until it makes her head hurt. She likes her head to be clear, so she can think. Only an idiot doesn't think and plan. And Rainbow is many things, but not an idiot. Not in this life, and not in her old one.

She looks in the distance, seeing several trucks approach. She knows why the old building has to go, but it still is a grave injustice. Just because she and her new family are poor, doesn't mean that they can just live nowhere at all. She feels the temptation, it would be so simple if she had a wand. And it would be for a good reason. But at the same time, she knows that it wouldn't be. Those men in those trucks aren't monsters, just like most of those with house-elfs. They just don't think. No one ever thinks, which is exactly how all those terrible things can happen. She refuses to believe that there are so many evil people.

But that doesn't really matter now. Even if these are all good fathers who return home to a loving family, they are still the ones who will make her homeless. Who will make her family homeless. There has been a lot of asking around, but no one knew a place for them to stay. There is just no space, all those so-called friends don't have any room themselves, not for all of them. Alone is much easier, so Linda will easily find something, but she and her parents, that is a bit harder. Especially because they have been mostly focused on trying to not get thrown out.

The trucks come closer, and Rainbow hears her mother calling for her, but only vaguely. She keeps looking, she sees that there are three trucks, one with an open top, one with an excavator and one with a bulldozer. And behind them, another vehicle. A white car with an orange-red stripe on the side. The police. She hears Shirley's voice again, and even though she prefers staying outside, Rainbow goes back to the house, climbing over the barricades in the doorway.

She has her bag on her back, not wanting to risk anything happening to it. It contains everything she holds dear, which, if she is honest, isn't much. But there are clothes, all the money that she has managed to save up by never spending anything more than strictly necessary and a little notebook. She hasn't written down much, afraid of it being found, but there are a few things that she really has to remember. And of course, Hermione's letters and her favourite books. She even packed her toothbrush herself, she doesn't know where they'll end up, and she has been brought up to take good care of herself in that regard. In her pocket she feels the little piece of parchment with Neil's name, she still hasn't had time to bring it back, even if she now knows the secret it holds. Perhaps she shouldn't put it back at all, he wouldn't understand the changes, and might try to go looking for a Death Eater.

Inside, everyone seems excited, this will be it. The moment they've been preparing for. There are signs, nailed to the house, which actually make it more inhabitable because they close off a few of the holes in the wall. But other than that, Rainbow has the feeling that it's much less like home now.

Outside it starts to drizzle, and the vehicles come to a halt in front of the house. There are no traps, Neil convinced Shirley to take a more peaceful approach, they'll just refuse to leave the house, based on the assumption that not even the government would want to kill them. Shirley wasn't certain however, but Rainbow had to agree. They wouldn't be that bad, otherwise the police would simply shoot at protesters.

She however has the feeling that there is something wrong with the plan. Or not a feeling, she knows it. They will still get thrown out, and nothing will change because no one cares. The same reason why SPEW failed, people don't want to see iniustice, they must be made to see. And here, like this, they won't.

Men step from the trucks and meet together, in the rain. They seem to be talking, pointing to the house. A little later the two policemen approach. Shirley has been chosen as a spokesperson, or rather, she chose herself and everyone just agreed. They tend to do that, Rainbow guesses that it is becauase it's much easier than arguing with her mother.

Finally they reach the open door, it can't be closed because of the things placed behind it, nailed and tied together. It has been the fate of most of the furniture, they couldn't take it anyways.

"Madam?", the taller of the two asks, "the building you are in has been scheduled for demolition. Could you please leave the premises?"

It's clear that he doesn't believe that they will. He seems sad, but he shouldn't be sad. He should be helping them, just like everyone. His excuse, the eternal excuse, will be that it's just his job. But to Rainbow that is no excuse. Not a proper one at least. Just wanting money is no reason to throw people out of their homes. Not having money is no reason to not be allowed to live anywhere.

Her mother is surprisingly calm: "No. We will not leave. We live here. I live here, my friends live here, my partner lives here, my daughter lives here."

"Please madam, go calmly, we don't want to have to force you.", the other one doesn't agree, he is a bit shorter, almost without a neck but broad shoulders. He glares at them.

"Then you and your fellow fascists will have to tear us away. This is our home, you can't make us homeless.", she is getting more excited, bit not yet shouting. Rainbow keeps observing, she already knows how it will end, but she is proud. Shirley is strong, and she stands for her beliefs, never giving up. She admires that, wishing that she had been that strong.

The policeman sighs: "I'm sorry, but it's the law. You can't stay here."

"We can stay here. We will stay here!", Shirley starts to shout, "you won't make my daughter homeless!"

The shorter one shrugs: "You've tried, Will, but they won't listen. Let's go and call the others."

The two turn around, followed by her mother's voice: "You fascist pigs! Go to your brownshirt friends to drown your consciences in some pub! Monsters! Murderers!"

When they are back with the demolition workers Shirley is heaving for breath. Rainbow smiles at her, they might get thrown out, but they will have their dignity. The others start complimenting her mother, whose anger fades to be replaced by a sense of relief. "They're calling their friends, which gives us a little more time. They are going to use force, so we have to be ready for that. You all know the plan, right?"

Everyone nods, including Rainbow. She actually has a part to play too. Linda brings the chains that have been bought, and tge locks. Everyone takes a place by a thick beam or other part that can't be moved all that easily, and Linda and Shirly tie the chains around their waist and the beam before locking them in place, giving the keys to Rainbow who has been given the final task, hiding them so they'll never be found.

Finally it's Shirley's turn, and Rainbow embraces her, fearing that something could happen. She whispers: "I love you, Shirley"

"I love you too, my sparkling Rainbow."

Rainbow turns around and goes to the back door. She already has a place in mind. No one will ever find them there. Except for her. She heads through the ever stronger rain, putting all of the keys into an old small pot. She looks around, no one can see her there. In the large garden she crawls over the ground until she is there. An old rabbit hole. She shoves the pot into it, almost as far as she can reach. The inside is wet and muddy, probably why it was abandoned, and Rainbow's arm is even dirtier than the rest of her clothes. Still there is no one to see her, and she heads back to the house. She sees more police cars approach, and starts to run, her bare feet on the wet grass, perhaps for the last time.

She feels cold, her sneaking might have been a bit extreme. Her clothes are wet, soaked even and there is mud everywhere, somehow even in her hair. She wants to wash herself, to change her clothes. She might not care very much for how she looks, but now it's about how it feels. Inside, she heads to Shirley first, telling her that the police is coming, and that nothing will be found. Her mother smiles a little, but not very sincerely. "Rainbow, I want you to be very careful. They will try to make you say things about us, to take you away. So say absolutely nothing."

"I won't tell them anything, I promise.", Rainbow knows what she refers to, social services. She doesn't want another family, Shirley and Neil let her do what she wants. They don't care that she doesn't go to school, and Rainbow doesn't want to waste her time there. She has already learned everything, leaving only the unpleasant sides. The bullying, the sports, the lack of friends. Immediately she thinks of the only friends she ever had, who she all lost because she didn't plan enough. Because she wasn't good enough.

"And I want you to go to the bathroom, wash yourself a little and change your clothes. Otherwise they'll use that as well. Don't trust the fascists, they only want you to be just like them, completely without your own thoughts.", Shirley looks really worried, and Rainbow nods again.

"I won't let them take me somewhere else. I want to stay with you.", she states, before going up the stairs, to the bathroom. There is no time for a shower, so she simple wettens the last towel to wipe off the mud. Her clothes are on tge ground below her, wet and dirty. She considers putting them in her bag, but they would rukb everything. So she leaves them as she puts on something else. Only her hair needs a good shower, so she holds the locks under the tap. It's better than nothing. Downstairs she hears other sounds, breaking sounds. And voices. Not only the shouting of familiar ones, but other ones as well. Unfriendly ones.

Rainbow heads back down, where she sees men, policemen, climbing over the makeshift barricades. A few are already inside, looking at everyone. The neckless one says: "Search those dirty hippies, they must have their keys on them, or around here somewhere. He looks around a little, and adds: "And someone get that kid. She'll talk."

Rainbow looks at her parents, both of tgem chained to the house. Both look at her, and she hears Neil shout: "Run, Rainbow, Run!"

She obeys. She doesn't know why, but she does. As fast as her legs can take her she races through the house. She reaches tge back door, the barricade there, and starts to climb up to it. Close behind her she hears someone, over the shouts of 'fascist'. She struggles upwards, it was easier when she wasn't rushed. Her heart beats in her throat, and she's almost on the side of the sofa, when she feels a hand closing around her ankle. She kicks with her othet foot, but strikes only air. She looks behind herself, seeing the one who spoke to her mother, Will. He holds her leg and comes closer. She kicks again, but with far too little force to really hurt him. She tries again and again, constantly without effect. He pulls, and she struggles to hold on at all. He's just so much stronger. Too strong for her.

Her grip releases, and suddenly she flies backwards from the force. A moment later she crashes into Will. This time there is enough force, and he falls, taking Rainbow with him. She tries to catch her fall, but can't move properly. Her head slams into the barricade. Her whole forehead explodes in pain, as do her elbows. But they're not nearly as bad.

She can't see clearly, her glasses are gone and the world tolls. She feels sick and weak. Someone lifts her up, and she hears other voices, but she can't understand. Her head feels hot, and the pain spreads out. Instead of clearing up, things get worse. Something is in her eye, and she can't see at all on her right side. She tries to think, but it hurts. Everything hurts and spins.

She is carried, she understands that, and suddenly she hears much louder shouting, shrieking even. But again she can't understand anything.

Suddenly it's colder, and wet. The world becomes clearer as well. She can vaguely understand what's being said, something about a stupid girl and crazies. She guesses that they mean her. She feels weak, and her head still hurts. She tries to open her eyes, the world no longer spins, but the one on the right won't open. Not easily at least and Rainbow doesn't want to force anything. The world is blurry, as it always is without her glasses. She remembers that they must still be on the floor, if they're not broken. She is being held by her waist, and uses one of her free hands to touch her face.

She would recognise it everywhere, the pain, and the viscous, sticky fluid. Blood. She brings her fingers to her eyes for confirmation. And it's red, even though the rain thins it. She's afraid, they shouldn't hurt her. They're not supposed to do that, she's a child. But then again, she knows that her family is undesirable, and she remembers the ministry all too well. This might have been accidental, but she fears for the others. And for herself. There is shouting from the house, but she can't focus on that. Not now that she has been put down. A policeman, Will, she recalls, looks at her: "Are you hurt?"

She thinks quickly, he can't know too much, but she has to say something: "Yes, it hurts. A lot. And I can't see a thing without my glasses."

It comes out with a lot of venom, more than she's used to from herself. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you run away. Do you understand why we're here?"

Rainbow doesn't want to be friendly, and she can't: "Because you want to build a stupid road, and because you hate us for being different."

He tries to put on a comforting face, but she sees through it. "That's not why we're here, we're here because this house belongs to someone, and you can't just move into someone's house."

She hears another voice, shouting: "Will! Will you hurry up! We need you here!"

He looks into her one open eye: "I have to go, and you stay here. I'll be back in a moment. I'm really sorry, but we can't have you endanger yourself"

He takes out his handcuffs, which shocks Rainbow. One is clicked around her narrow wrist, closing to the smallest pissible extent and he fixes the other one to a handhold above the seat. Finally, he closes the door.

She is certain now, she's going to lose everyone, and she will be sent to a home. She looks at the locked hand, high above her. It's the left one, not her wand hand. She points at the lock, speaking clearly and making the movements: "Alohamora"

Nothing happens, like she expected, so she tries again. "Alohamora"


	14. Chapter 13: Running away

**Maya:** Thank you, figuring out a nice name was difficult, but because I plan on chapter where Hermione (the real one) appears, it would be a horrible mess to write.

 **NatNicole:** Thank you very much. The naming thing is a difficult part, but I think that seven years should be enough time to internalise the other name, and I fear that I would probably mess up many situations, where she is referred to as Hermione while people call her Rainbow.

 **Tirion I:** I figured that there should be some bad luck involved, but luckily there is such a thing as official name changes. Voldemort being reincarnated like that could be fun, but only if he is stuck completely without magic. Because he has some experience with getting rid of silly names otherwise.

And what is the worst a head injury could do?

 **Chapter 13: Running Away**

Rainbow, or Hermione before that, has always been stubborn. If she doesn't get something right on the first attempt, she tries again, experimenting, varying slightly each time. Until everything is in fact perfect. And that is exactly how she approaches her current problem of being locked into a police car. She knows how to do it, the theory is clear. She has even done it before, she knows the practice, but it is another one, a simpler one. All it comes down to now is finding the new complicated practice.

Finally, her patience, stubbornness and knowledge give result. She hears a clicking sound, and she is released from the handcuff. That only leaves the locked door, but she now knows how to do it. A few more attempts later Rainbow opens the door a little. But before she steps into the rain she opens her bag, digging out her old glasses. They no longer fit perfectly, and they also don't correct her sight all that well anymore, but it's better than nothing.

Now she can see what's going on, despite the pain. At least, with her one eye, she's bleeding, and the other eye is kept closed by the coagulation. That however isn't enough to stop Rainbow who has spent too much time fighting for her life. She sees policemen in the house, and she sees someone being dragged out. People are shouting, and again she feels helpless. There's nothing she can do. Again, she should have been better, have practiced more. All there is now is to try to escape.

No one seems to be watching. The workmen sit together in their trucks, probably looking at the struggle for the house. They won't look. Rainbow carefully opens the door, just wide enough for her to slip through before closing it again. She has to get away, she simply doesn't trust the police, and her head hurts. Every beat of her heart tears through it. She runs to a few trees, so she won't be seen.

There she has a little more time. She can't take her bicycle, it's on top of the van, and of course, they will look at the roads nearby as soon as they miss her. Rainbow feels horrible, ashamed of fleeing, but she sees no other way. She decides to go through the country, she knows it, and it will be much harder to find her there. She doesn't run, running doesn't only make her head hurt more, but it's far too tiring, she always tires easily. It's still light, it's only morning, but the rain might make her harder to see.

As she walks, she feels colder and colder, but the pain starts to fade. She has put on her sandals, the little stones can really hurt, and she doesn't want to slow down. While walking, she finally has the time to form a plan. She already walks in the right direction, to the village, where there is a station. From there, she can get far away. Of course, she expects questions, but perhaps the time has come to stop hiding. Or at least, to hide in a different way.

She meets no one as she follows the trees, not wanting to cross open fields. Luckily, it isn't far, but she's still completely soaked by the time she is halfway there. The only good part is that the water washes some of the blood away, and with some rubbing Rainbow manages to get both her eyes to open again. She knows that she looks terrible, and has to clean up before anyone can see her. They will arrest her right away. She should have known, she should have remembered. The ministry can't be trusted, not the wizarding one, and not the muggle one. Everything could have been ruined.

But now that she is alone again, Rainbow can think. Not perfectly clear, the pain keeps tearing through her head every now and then, but a bit clearer. She doesn't have anywhere to go. She brings her hand to her forehead, feeling the gash on the right side. She almost shouts, touching the wound hurts, but it looks like it's no longer bleeding as heavily. The girl knows that she has to go somewhere, she has to put herself to some sort of order before she can take the next steps. After some time, doubt comes to surface. Perhaps she shouldn't have run from the police, perhaps she should just have stayed, let them take her to another family. It would have been a setback, but now she has nothing. Not even a plan.

It is cold in the rain, only her head still feels warm, and then only parts of it. Her feet start to hurt as well, they are cold and there are stones in the grass. She should have brought her shoes. She should have brought something. Tears start to form, joining the raindrops on her face. The only real difference is that they feel a little warmer during the first part of their downward journey, soon enough they are lost in the water. She has made a mistake, she should have prevented all this. Convinced them to simply leave the house. It was so unnecessary, they could just have left, and found something new.

Other memories return, joining these thoughts. Memories of Hogwarts, her home of all those years. She had failed there, she should have convinced them. She shouldn't have let them die. Not let themselves be killed.

She stumbles, falling forwards, into the wet grass and mud, causing stars to dance in front of her eyes. Everything hurts, she is cold and she feels sick. She wants to curl up, to hide somewhere. But she can't. Rainbow remembers too much of what happens if she does nothing. But the temptation is there, to find a way to escape, to live her own life. But that would mean that everything she has done is for nothing. And all those terrible things would happen, all those things that hurt her friends, her family, and all those others. She can't let that happen. She hasn't done so much just to run away again.

Rainbow crawls to her knees, everything hurts, but not as badly as just a few moments ago. She has to continue, despite the pain. She can't let _him_ win. Never. She can't let all those things happen. There are many things that remain unknown, but she knows something at least. She has to stop hiding, she has to act.

XXXXXX

It is somewhere in the afternoon when she reaches the village, almost too exhausted to remain on her feet. But Rainbow doesn't yet give up. She keeps walking, she knows where she has to go, even if she has to break rules to do it. The rain doesn't show any sign of letting up, and she feels even more miserable. Her family has been arrested. Of course, they will be released, but she can't go back. Not yet at least. She has more important things to do, there are bigger things. She has to remember, she has to sacrifice a little of herself for it, but it is what must be done. She has to save the world.

She has to get on the train, but first she has to clean up a little. The girl goes into the bicycle shed, it's small and dirty, but at the very least it's moderately dry, and no one uses it in this rain. She quickly takes off her clothes, wiping her face with the cloth, turning it red. She repeats this until there is no more blood onto it. The rag is cast to the ground, replaced by another shirt. An actual T-shirt this time, it will have to do with her jeans. Rainbow can't see herself, but she figures that she will look a lot more presentable now.

There are some ten minutes left before the train shows up, giving her the time to buy a ticket. Rainbow looks at her savings, mentally adding up the costs, before she remembers something. If she gets a ticket at the office, there will be questions, or she will actually be held. She certainly looks the part of a runaway. Her decision is quickly made, even if it is immoral. She will have to get on without a ticket.

Luckily, the platform is nearly empty. It's still too early for the commuters, and few will travel for fun in this weather. She can find a little shelter, even if there is still water flowing from her hair. Somehow it always keeps acting as some sort of sponge. One by one she squeezes at least some of the rain from the locks, they still feel a little strange, even if she has worn her hair like this for years now. Sometimes, or actually, more than sometimes, she longs to be her old self again, not this unfamiliar girl. Not Rainbow Star, but Hermione Granger. But there is no going back, she has to succeed. Too many terrible things have happened to let them happen again.

Few people look at her, they're mostly trying to keep dry themselves, even though there are a few odd glances. She feels cold, and wishes that she could just apparate, that would make things so much easier. It would at least cause less questions. Finally the train arrives, it is a little old, and only five minutes late. She darts into it, happy to be out of the cold, unpleasant rain. On her way home.


	15. Chapter 14: Just Words

I'm sorry for my recent lack of posts. I don't know why, but for some time, I didn't feel a lot of inspiration for this story. I think that it is better now, so hopefully I will get to write some more updates soon.

 **Iopgod:** Thank you for your reviews! Despite having lived in the UK for several years now, I never knew about the difference between writing X and writing to X. But from now on, I will try to keep things right. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy remains one of my favourite books of all time, and not referencing it would simply be a crime. And thank you for your compliments, it has really helped me with my motivation issues.

 **Tirion:** I won't give spoilers, but she took a train to London…

 **Starfox5:** I have to confess that I don't believe in characters getting a perfect or very good life until maybe at the very end. I always have the idea that it takes a lot of conflict out otherwise. And, more importantly at this point, I don't really see a way to give her a lot of sudden improvements at this point.

 **JuliSt:** As she dresses now, she indeed would be Dumbledore's favourite, and looks more like a witch than most people raised by muggles. I'm working my way towards her getting to Hogwarts, but it will take some time for her to get there, she simply isn't old enough yet, despite already knowing much more than she has to.

 **Sweet-tang-honney:** I'm sorry for not having updated soon, but somehow, I didn't have any inspiration for some time.

 **Chapter 14: Just Words**

Rainbow feels warm, despite the snow falling all around her. Her bare feet crunch into it, but even that isn't cold. She steps forwards, not seeing further than an arm's length. There is a wind, a strong wind, coming from right ahead of her. She recalls that people who die from hypothermia often feel warm and happy just before they die, but this doesn't trouble her. It's just something that is. She wipes her hand through her hair, taking off some of the snow. Strangely enough, it isn't in the thick strands that she is used to, but is a lighter brown, and curly. Like she once had.

She takes another step, and ahead of her she sees a white shape appear. She can't see what it is, but she recalls the shape from somewhere. She approaches it, only to see more appear by its side, and behind it. Her vision starts to clear, as the snow stops. Ahead of her, there are endless rows of these things. Slabs of white stone, nothing more. She kneels down, looking at the first one. There is snow on it, and with her bare hand she wipes it away. It doesn't feel cold, it feels hot. As she bows towards it, she sees that an inscription on the front has become visible.

It shows only three words, a name. "Ginevra Molly Weasley"

Tears well up in her eyes, burning. She truly liked Ginny, more than liked if she is honest to herself. Even if those feelings were never shown or returned. And now she is lost. Dead. She forces herself to stand up, just as the first tear hits the ground. From that point flames spread out in a circle, evaporating all the snow, and illuminating the names. There are too many, but she knows all of them. All of them people she failed, people who died because of her. Because she didn't do what she should do. Her friends, everyone. Dead. Because of her. Because she didn't do anything. She is the only one who is left, who was left. They are there again, in this new world, but it's not enough.

Something shakes her shoulder, and she opens her eyes. She no longer is in that cemetery, instead she half-lies in a train. Rainbow looks up, there is a man towering over her. "Are you okay?"

She's wet, and a little cold, but there is no time for that now: "I'm fine."

"Are your parents here, with you?"

Her mind races, she can't be thrown off, she has to reach her destination. "They're waiting for me at the station."

It's a lie, but she hopes that it is believable. "Where are you going then?"

He sits down opposite to her, clearly showing that she won't be left alone. She however doesn't want to get stuck travelling with some talkative stranger, she has important things to do. More important than this. "To my parents. They told me to not talk to strange men."

This however fails to have the intended effect, and Rainbow starts to feel afraid. The stranger doesn't leave, or remain silent. Instead he replies: "That is good advice to give, but you shouldn't be travelling alone."

"But I have to. If I don't, I can never get home."

"Couldn't someone bring you?"

Rainbow starts to feel annoyed, but she can't show it. She can't afford anyone turning her over to the police, or something like that. "No, my grandmother is sick, and my parents have to work."

"And why were you visiting her then? Couldn't you have gone with your parents, on the weekend?"

"They always have to work, they have lots of people they have to help. And, ehm, well, they don't like my grandmother, so I visit her on my own."

"And they do know about it?", the man asks, clearly suspecting something.

"Yes. I told them that I would stay with her for the night. And now I'm going back."

"On a school day?", he asks, "Don't you have to go to school?"

"Ehm", she doesn't have an answer ready, until she remembers the solution, "I don't go to school. I learn everything at home."

Even Rainbow understands the meaning of the look on the stranger's face. Disbelief. She has to get away. But he is in the way. He is between her and the doors. And even then, she would end up at some station she doesn't know, and would be at a greater risk of being caught without a ticket. "So, you are home-schooled? And where do you live?"

She has to decide now. Get off at the next station, or run for it at her true destination. "Yes. I live in, ehm, Bayswater."

"Really? And where specifically?", now she's convinced that he's testing her. Rainbow just picked an area she knew the name of, that wasn't the station name. But she doesn't know any streets there.

"On, ehm, Bayswater Road.", there has to be one with that name, she is convinced of it. Even if she has no clue where it would be. Her stomach starts to rumble, but Rainbow ignores it.

"That's a coincidence, I have friends living around there. What sort of house do you live in?"

"Just a normal one. We share it with lots of other people.", Rainbow looks out of the window, trying to figure out how far it still is. She doesn't know the route perfectly, not anymore, but she still hopes for some landmark or sign or anything like it. The train already is in the city, but she can't say where. But it looks like the train is slowing down, as though there is a station coming up. She has to find a way out of the conversation, and finally, one comes to her: "Why are you asking me so many questions?"

For a moment the man is silent: "Because, a girl like you shouldn't be travelling alone."

"But that is what I am doing. And I shouldn't talk to strange men, and that's what I'm also doing now."

"Young lady.", he starts, giving Rainbow a pretty good idea of what will be coming next, "I don't think so. You are far too thin, your clothes don't fit well, you don't even wear shoes, you are soaking wet. And, there is a wound on your forehead. Tell me the truth."

She hadn't thought of that, not anymore at least. "I like my clothes, and don't want to waste the Earth's precious resources on getting new ones all the time. That is bad for the environment. I don't wear shoes because I want to be in touch with Mother Earth. And I fell on my way to the station, it's rainy you know?"

The man looks like he doesn't believe a word of what she's saying: "Really? So, you were walking through the rain on your own, without any sort of umbrella or coat. And then you fell, in such a way that you got a gash in your head, but instead of going for help, you continued to the station, to get on this train, and promptly fell asleep in your seat?"

"I had to catch this one, or I would be late, and my parents would be worried."

The train stops, and Rainbow briefly looks outside, they're in a place called Ealing Broadway. If she's not mistaken, that's the last station before her destination. Just a few more minutes then, until this man brings her to the police. "And you couldn't just make a phone call to tell them?"

"We don't have a telephone.", Rainbow replies, wondering if he can't just stop this questioning. At least, this one isn't a lie, there was no connection at home. The home that no longer exists.

"And you're hungry. I can hear that well enough. Didn't your grandmother give you anything to eat?"

"She did. But I don't like it. I don't eat meat, and she always gives me sausages.", she pouts, even if Rainbow already thinks that it will be useless. If only she had a wand, that would make things so much easier.

"To be honest, I don't believe you. I think that you ran away from home, I don't know why, but I know that you shouldn't be on your own. If something happened to you, you should get help. If you just went away, your parents will really miss you, and you should go back to them."

Finally, she gets an idea to get rid of this stranger: "No. I'm going home. To my parents. Why are you asking so many questions? Are you trying to hurt me? Do you want to kidnap me?"

"Of course not!", he exclaims, clearly offended, "I want to help you, it's dangerous for a you to travel alone."

"It's only dangerous when there are strange men who insist on talking to me, and who won't leave me alone. I have done this a dozen times already, and nothing ever happened.", she becomes a little more aggressive, hoping to push this stranger away. "So, why are you bothering me?"

"I'm not!", he raises his voice, "I'm trying to help you here. You're the one who is travelling all alone."

"I was, until you started talking to me. Just leave me alone, or I'll call the police!", not that she would do that, but Rainbow considers it to be a nice threat. "You're just one of those guys who wants to do things with me. So go away now, or I'll shout."

He falls silent, looking at the girl with wide open eyes. "Did you, did you just, ehm, did you accuse me of…"

"Yes.", Rainbow snaps, "Yes I did. And I will do so again until you leave me alone. And I will shout."

The man stands up, clearly afraid. "I, I will keep an eye on you."

Finally he leaves, and Rainbow feels a little more relaxed, while she thinks over her day so far. She has just lost her home, her family, everything really. But, somewhere, she thinks that it's not a bad thing. She has wasted enough time. When the train finally reaches the station, Rainbow slips out immediately, and starts to walk. Not to Bayswater of course, no, she heads in another direction. More towards the center of the city. It is a way that she has often walked, and one that she actually looked up several times on maps already.

As she walks, the girl ignores her stomach, that can wait. There are other things that she has to do. She sees herself in the window of a shop. No, this look will not do, no one will ever believe her. There is a nasty gash in her forehead, and a new idea appears.


	16. Chapter 15: Running

**Brian1972:** I'm happy that I'm not the only Erfworld reader here. This action was a mix of the two, Hermione has absorbed some of the lessons, but not as extremely as her 'parents' would like her to. And I'm happy that the amount of craziness is right, I mean, this kind of universe asks for at least a bit of it, right?

 **Tirion I:** There hasn't been a haircut, so only two of those apply. And of course, Hermione is supposed to be the clever one, so this trick worked. This story takes place in the age before digital communications, so there will not yet be reports of her being missing everywhere. Otherwise, this would be nearly impossible to do.

 **JuliSt:** I was thinking a bit for myself about how such a problem could be solved, and then I remembered that there actually is a very simple way to achieve it, most people are terrified of such accusations.

 **Starfox5:** Yes, a wand would definitely make things a lot easier. Which is one of the reasons why I wanted to put these things in this stage. Running away and travelling alone as a child is difficult to pull off, even with the mental abilities of an adult. And it requires a fair bit of talking. Magic can make that sort of problem go away far too easily.

 **Chapter 15: Running**

Rainbow looks at herself, and she notices that lots of people see her. Luckily, they tend to be a bit less annoying here, they keep more to themselves. And of course, it's raining, and that also helps. People are rushing by. Her appearance is a mess, a real mess, no wonder that no one wants anything to do with her. Her feet hurt, and when she looks closely at them, it is clear enough that they too are bleeding. She looks at herself, knowing that this is a disaster. And then, then she sees it. Someone on the other side of the street. No, not someone. Him. She thinks, it's hard to see it clearly with her old glasses. He followed her. Immediately, Rainbow walks away, looking for side streets or anything like it to dive into. She has to be quick, he is already crossing the street.

As soon as she is around a corner, Rainbow breaks into a run, to hide behind a pile of cardboard. When she reaches it, even if it only was a few dozen feet away, she feels winded, out of breath. She kneels down, into a puddle, but it hardly matters. Jeans are worthless for something like what she is planning, and she is soaked anyways. Even through the rain she can hear the footsteps, coming closer and closer. He is following, but she doesn't dare to look.

The girl has a tickling sensation in her nose, which becomes worse and worse. She tries to resist it, but that makes it start to hurt. She breathes in, struggling to delay the inevitable sneeze. The feeling becomes worse and worse, and Rainbow squeezes her eyes shut, it feels like someone is sticking needles into them as well as the inside of her nose. It is on both sides now, and her lungs feel like they're going to burst. She tries to stop it, but it's hard.

Suddenly, it's gone. She doesn't know why, but the pain, the itch and the tickling go away, just like that. She slowly lets the air leave her lungs, relieved and a little confused. She can listen again, and hears only the rain drumming, no other sounds. She opens her eyes, and takes off her glasses, they're covered in droplets again. She wipes them over her shirt, which also is wet, but at least she can see a little again.

Except, she doesn't like what she sees. Shoes. Dark shoes, right in front of her. Looking up, she recognizes the man. He holds an umbrella up, at least sheltering her a little from the rain, but that doesn't matter. She doesn't want to see him. "I didn't see your parents waiting for you, and this certainly isn't the direction to Bayswater."

He leans over her, And Rainbow tries to go backwards, to escape. But he is faster, and more importantly, has every advantage. He grabs her upper arm, and pulls her up. "Leave me alone!"

"No. You've run away from home, I can see that, and you have clearly been on your own for some time. I'm taking you with me. Now."

Rainbow tries to struggle, but only hurts her arm. "Where are you taking me?"

"To the police. They will take care of you. And you shouldn't be afraid, they won't send you back to whoever did that to you.", he replies, pointing at her forehead.

She walks along in silence, trying to think of a new strategy. She knows that she can't be brought to the police, they would never let her go. And she has to do this now, she can't keep delaying.

"Help!", she shouts, at the top of her lungs. People look their way, and the stranger looks surprises. "Help! He's taking me! Help!"

Several people come rushing towards her, despite the rain, and Rainbow again struggles to break free, but his grip only becomes stronger, and her arm hurts. "Let me go!"

"She ran away from home, and she has to be taken to the police. Look at her, this girl needs care."

"No, I didn't! I was just walking here! And he just said that he wants to do things with me!"

"What?! No!", he almost shouts now. But a man grabs his arms: "Let that girl go."

Rainbow looks around, there is a whole group of people around them now, and the stranger finally lets go. She immediately takes a few steps away, but is stopped by a rather broadly-built woman. "Dear, do you need help?"

"I just want to go home.", she says, sounding as pathetic as she can.

"I will take you there, but you should go to a doctor first. Someone has to see to that."

Rainbow nods: "It hurts, because I fell. But I want to go home. Mommy is a doctor."

XXXXXXX

She doesn't know what happened to the man who tried to help her, Rainbow hopes that it was nothing bad, but she had to get rid of him. To avoid going to the police. The woman has brought her to the hospital, almost right next to the station. She didn't dare to run away again, that could only have ended in disaster. And there she is, at St. Mary's Hospital. They head through the doors into the old building, and are immediately guided to the A&E. The woman kneels down in front of her: "They will take care of you here. I have to go now, I have to be on time for my work."

Rainbow nods: "Thank you."

The kind stranger turns around and walks away, watched by Rainbow. She looks around, there are several other people, but she doesn't want to talk to any of them. She wants to have some time to think, she has had far too little of that. Her head hurts, not from the wound, not in that way. No, it's the other kind. The one that comes from wearing bad glasses and from not having had anything to drink or eat.

She takes the opportunity to go to a bathroom, to at least get a little to drink. She climbs up to the sink, and finally drinks a little water. And of course, she sees her face in a real mirror. And up close. It's terrible, there is some blood, and even mud there. That's not good at all, no wonder that she could hardly go anywhere. She takes a few tissues, makes them wet, and starts to clean up a little. This way it goes a lot better, even if she can see bruises appearing already. On her own, she can sigh, and so she does.

While she cleans up, Rainbow finally has some time to think, and she makes a new plan. Or rather, a modification of her old one. She again changes her clothes, but this time, she puts on one of her dresses, which once was a T-shirt for Neil, but she got it as a gift. It fits her like a bag, which means, not at all, it's far too large, but in a way, that is what she needs. She doesn't have shoes, but that doesn't matter much, even if walking all the way to her destination might not be the best idea. But to wait here for treatment might not be the best idea, they would ask questions, questions she can't give the answer to.

Rainbow heads back outside, ignoring everyone as she walks back to the station. There, she takes a map of the tube, and settles on a route. She will have to transfer once, but that's better than walking. Her feet hurt a lot. She slips into a train, almost disappearing into the mass. Some people see her, but most just ignore her. And those who see her mostly keep some distance, as though they think that she is a thief of some sorts. Luckily, no one is checking for tickets, and she quickly reaches Earl's Court, where she only has to wait a little while, to take the final train to her destination. It should be close enough, and again no one talks to her.

At Leicester Square, she gets off, even if people don't move out of the way for her. Rainbow however manages to worm through, and finds some curses hurled after her. But then, at the exit, there is a problem. They are looking for tickets. Or actually, people without them, like her. She doesn't see any way to avoid it, and tries to look calm as she walks by them. Someone stops her however, and Rainbow feels desperation come over her.

"Ah, how old are you?"

"I, I am seven, sir.", she replies, as politely as she can.

"And where are your parents?"

"They are at home, I just went to my auntie, and now I'm going back."

"Well, off you go then!", he smiles at her. And then she remembers. Children can travel for free. All her worries for nothing. She takes a few moments to reorient herself, and heads off again, with more determination now. She has a part to play, and can't afford failure. She adjusts her bearing, trying to stand as upright as she can, and walks. Crossing the road and passing stores, some of which she even remembers. And then, just next to a bookstore, she sees it. Her destination. A pub, like many others, only slightly more run-down and old fashioned. She allows herself a very brief smile, and enters.


	17. Chapter 16: Trade

Here I am again. I am very sorry for not having updated in a while, but I finally found the combination of time, energy, and inspiration after watching a certain movie on Thursday, and going about it in the dorkiest way possible. On my own. At least it meant that no one looked too awkwardly at me and my notebook.

Anyways, I hope that you like it. I try to move the story forwards a little, and will do my utmost best to keep updating, I don't want another hiatus of more than half a year. I'm very sorry for that.

 **JuliSt** : She indeed has intelligence, and far more experience than most people would suspect. This gives her a chance.

 **Brian1972** : My understanding is that the thing with being handed over to the muggle authorities indeed is what happens to children raised in the muggle world. Which in her case probably means being placed somewhere, unless Neil and Shirley manage to get the authorities to let them care for her. I also solemnly swear that there will be no superwands. If they existed, we would have heard of them, and I didn't really like the Hallows anyways. They could really have used some foreshadowing in earlier books.

 **NatNicole** : Thank you for your compliment! Remus would indeed be a great sortof father, so it might just happen.

 **Guest** : Thank you.

 **Skywiseskychan** : Yes, Rainbow will probably never be the healthiest person, but at this moment it's still possible to correct some things. If she gets into Hogwarts, she will at least get access to decent food. I think that it's impossible to be independent of your environment, and everything that happens has an effect. I still notice values from my childhood in me, even though I have almost completely rejected it.

At this moment, her plan is a little confused, but the following update will at least show some of it.

 **Sweet-tang-honney** : I'm very sorry for my tardiness, I was busy with other projects and real life. But after seeing a certain movie (on my own, I'm such a dork), I just felt inspired again. I think that I have to get into the flow, but I really think that I can finish this.

 **Chapter 16: Trade**

A thousand memories fill Rainbow when she steps into the warmth of the Leaky Cauldron. Memories of when she first came her, when the magical world was utterly magical to her, her yearly visits afterwards, all the moments of joy with her friends, and how it became. A deep sadness fills her, longing for a past, or a future, both of which are gone.

But none of that matters now. She has to act, she can't just wait. The girl feels eyes on her, which is exactly what she wants to avoid at this moment. That means that there is only one thing that she can do, she walks onwards, at a brisk pace. That however isn't enough to stop an old bald man from stopping her in her tracks. Immediately she knows who he is, the one who belongs here like the furniture. The landlord, she only knows his first name, Tom, which is how everyone calls him. "Miss, are you looking for someone?"

She remains silent for a few moments, she should have done more to prepare for this. But she tries, putting on a thick accent: "I am szorry. I vas goink to shop at Diagonlee."

Rainbow hates herself. This is her worst accent ever. Even kids in a school play could do better. She looks up, seeing Tom's doubt. "Aren't you a bit young to be traveling on your own?"

"Zhat iz vhat zhey all ask me. I used a rejuvenating tscharm, but it vhass too good.", Rainbow replies, forced to make something up. If only she had actually prepared, polyjuice potion would make this so much easier. But there was a reason why she even came here.

The doubtful look remains, but the landlord mutters: "If you say so."

Mere moments later the girl has made her way to the back, to the wall that is a doorway. She remembers exactly where it was, and reaches up, touching the stone. As always, her eyes widen when the wall moves aside and the street beyond is revealed. She feels her heart beating faster, she has done it. She has returned to the magical world.

Rainbow forces herself to focus, it might have been years, and many things are different, but they're still mostly the same shops, and the same kinds of people. It feels a little like coming home, but in a way, it doesn't. She feels like a stranger. It's not very busy, not as busy as at some times at least, but there still are hundreds of witches, wizards, and various magical creatures walking around, going from shop to shop. She weaves through the crowd, to Gringotts. She doesn't have much money, she had planned to be saving for a little longer, but if the exchange rates haven't changed, it should be enough. For a moment, she wishes that she had stolen from her parents or their friends.

Finally, she makes her way into the bank, already taking off her backpack. She has to wait for a while, which allows her the time to find her money. It isn't much, but she is glad that she hasn't bought anything to eat. Other things are more important now, and she needs every knut she can get. One can make the difference. With her heart beating in her chest she approaches one of the goblins, towering over her on his high seat.

"Yes?", he croaks.

Rainbow swallows before holding out her savings, years of stinginess in her small hand. She puts on her most determined voice: "I wish to exchange this muggle currency."

What she feared doesn't happen, the goblin doesn't seem to care at all that she is a child, and his long fingers take the money, quickly counting it. "Ah, yes. That will give you nine galleons, fourteen sickles and nine knuts."

Rainbow nods: "That will do."

Rainbow is pleasantly surprised, she thought that the exchange rate was different, but then again, she only remembered it from her last years. All she really needs are seven galleons, everything more than that is extra. Although, she does need food, and a place to stay.

A few moments later the goblin gives her the coins, and Rainbow is back on her way. There is one shop where she has to go, and although her feet hurt and her stomach is growling she walks there. Ollivander's.

Everything is exactly the same as when she was here previously, it's still dusty and dark, and the bell sounds exactly like she remembers, even if she now is completely different.

"Miss?", The old man who approaches asks, "have you lost your parents?"

Again she has to lie, he would never sell a wand to someone Rainbow's age. She however doesn't believe that she will achieve anything with her fake accent, and Ollivander certainly knows that rejuvenating charms don't exist. She however has an idea, from a comic book that she loved as a child. "I lost them years ago, but that's not why I'm here. I'm looking for a new wand."

He leans over her, a kindly smile on his face. "I'm afraid that I can't do that."

Rainbow sighs, looking like this happens all the time. "I know. Just because I fell into the cauldron with skin potions my mother made no one ever believes that I'm not in fact a child. I know that I look like an idiot, there's a reason why I come here to purchase a new wand. The old one exploded along with my luggage."

"That seems difficult to believe without evidence, miss, and I am quite certain that I would have heard of your condition.", He answers, following it with a chuckle.

Rainbow however doesn't like this at all. She needs a wand, or it's all for nothing. She rolls her eyes: "Yes, because I'm not from around here. And I want to go home. Where people don't bother me. So please, I need a wand so I can get back home."

"And where is that home?", he asks, not showing any hint of giving in.

"Bulgaria.", she replies, almost without thinking.

"So tell me again, why should I believe you?"

Rainbow decides on another approach: "Because I am sufficiently skilled in magic to demonstrate that I simply can't be a child."

"I am truly sorry, but I can't help you with that, but let me help you find your family. What's your name?"

Hundreds fly through her head, but she knows that it shouldn't be British. He would know it. "Maria Skłodowska."

He can't possibly know her, or anyone with that name. Wizards tend to be completely ignorant of the non-magical world, something that she intends to use to her advantage.

"Well then. Let's go look for your family."

Immediately Rainbow turns around to leave. She knows that it is useless as she says: "As I said they are at home in Poland. But it is clear to me that you do not want my business, so I will go elsewhere."

She ignores him as she returns to the street, this was a bad plan, of course Ollivander would be careful. Of course he wouldn't just sell a wand to a child. But at the same time, he is the only wandmaker. But then she recalls. He is the best wandmaker, which means that there can be more, there will be more. She wrecks her brain, trying to remember them, she never noticed other wandmakers in Diagon Alley, but isn't as familiar with Knockturn Alley. She however would rather not go there, especially not with how she looks now.

Wandering through the street, she notices a small shop, which she had mostly forgotten about. It's not very large, and she has been there only once. But she remembers seeing wands for sale. It doesn't have to be perfect, she doesn't need a wand matched to her. She needs something.

Hesitantly she enters the shop, it's cramped and dusty inside, and almost immediately she has to sneeze, drawing the attention of an old witch with an enormous protruding chin who looks up from her Witch Weekly: "Hello dear, are you looking for something?"

Rainbow replies: "I, ehm, I'm just looking around. I'm looking for a present for my mother."

She doesn't want any more issues, knowing all too well that she can't convince people that she's an adult, and feels relieved when the witch returns to her magazine, muttering something about mothers these days. Rainbow takes the opportunity to manoeuvre through the piles of what she can best describe as junk. Broken clocks, old books with torn covers, piles of magazines, tied together by year, a bent birdcage, cauldrons with holes, dirty cloaks, everything one can imagine, and more. She sees several wands as well, broken, chipped, or just worn, and she collects them as she works her way through the shop, finding a spot beyond the view of the witch, behind several boxes filled with what looks like empty inkpots, each with a fine label in tiny handwriting stuck to them. One reads: "2729. Mawdhawi co., 1882, magenta."

She shakes her head as she looks over the wands that she has found, eight of them. Immediately she lies two aside, they are clearly broken, and barely hang together. She remembers enough to know that a broken wand isn't safe to use, she will never forget Ron's issues. This leaves her with six, and carefully she selects one, a long one made of chipped vine wood. It reminds her of her old wand, and she whispers as softly as she can: "Point me."

The wand remains inert, not even twitching a little. It is a disappointment, but she fears that it means that this wand won't work, and she puts it with the two broken ones. The next also doesn't work, and she starts to fear that they have nothing here, just broken old things. Or worse, that she is making mistakes. She tries a levitation charm with it, but still nothing happens. The third wand is a hawthorn, with a crack running its whole length. She tries it again, and smiles when the wand moves. But, instead of pointing north, it keeps spinning, and she struggled to get it to stop, especially without making any noise.

Rainbow is becoming ever more worried, especially when the fourth wand, which looks intact, also doesn't do anything at all, leaving her with just two. And the broken ones of course, but she doesn't really dare to try them out. Of the two she has left, one is a chipped wand of pale wood, yew, and the other a short, worn willow. She has no clue about their cores, but that doesn't matter at the moment. She needs one that works, that's all.

She takes the less damaged of the two, the yew. It's a wood with some meaning to her, Ginny had a yew wand. She whispers: "Point me."

The wand obeys and a smile appears on Rainbow's face. She has done it. Now the other challenge remains, actually buying it. For a moment she considers stealing the wand, but that would be wrong. Rainbow isn't a thief, even if Shirley always insisted that property was a kind of theft. At the same time, she doesn't know if she could actually buy it, no matter what she said.

With her heart beating in her throat, Rainbow approaches the witch, holding the wand. "Madam?"

"Yes?", she looked up over her magazine.

"Could you tell me how much this costs?"

She looks for a few moments, before starting to flip through an enormous binder, filled with scraps of parchment, attached to more scraps. "Two galleons and three sickles."

Rainbow opens her bag, she put her money in the smaller bit in front, and takes out the coins. "Then I would like to buy it. My father is a collector of wands, and I want something for his birthday."

Suddenly the witch looks suspicious: "Are you sure that you won't use it?"

"I am!"

"Very well. But I think that I should disable it. I don't want any trouble with the ministry."

This is it, Rainbow knows it, she can't allow any of this to happen. She needs a wand, and she doesn't know any other place to get one. She raises the wand: "Petrificus Totalus!"

Rainbow feels relieved that it worked, and places the coins in front of the witch. She's not a thief. At the same time, she knows that she has to do something. Leaving the witch like this will only lead to more trouble, and the girl swallows before she starts working a memory charm, altering her memories to believing that she sold Rainbow a disabled old wand.


	18. Chapter 17: Running Girl

I've been very inspired lately, so here's the next chapter.

 **Iopgod** : Thank you. Here is the next update, which didn't take me more than half a year!

 **Soulsiphon** : I hope that I can stay inspired, but all I can say is that at this moment I'm very inspired.

 **Tirion I** : It is something very important yes, knowing how the Trace works, but I'm still struggling with figuring it out myself, although it will certainly be an obstacle.

 **Pff** : Thank you very much. There indeed is a criminal lack of femslash, which is something that I try to partially rectify. Also because I really wouldn't be able to write any other kind of relationship.

 **Brian1972** : Yes, it's not exactly the best option to use, but then again, she isn't in a situation to choose. And I think that getting something amazing in a shop for old crap is rather difficult. The shop featured in the books as well, if I remember things correctly, there was one which just sold old junk.

A wand indeed doesn't give everything, but it does give far more options than not having one. Hermione was a very good witch after all. It basically is the number one tool, which she can use to get other things to work.

 **Sweet-tang-honney** : Thank you. I try to be a bit faster than I used to.

 **Chapter 17: Running Girl**

Back in the street Rainbow thinks for a few moments, she still has most of her money, and there are a few things that she really needs. Mostly food and shoes. Perhaps a little rest, but in a way, she doesn't want to, not now that she has come so far.

She looks around with a kind of carefulness that she isn't used to anymore, but which still comes easily. She learned that while a refugee. She darts into the space between two shops, in the shadows, and leans against a wall. Her feet are cold, but most of all, they hurt, and quite badly at that. Rainbow isn't a mediwitch, healing spells aren't one of her strengths, but she has learned a little. Which is to say, little to her own standards. She knows that nothing can really be done to make things much better, but it is enough to take away the worst of the pain.

After cleaning the wounds and closing them, Rainbow can walk again, even if the steps still hurt. She hopes that nothing has gotten infected, the streets weren't all that clean. She starts thinking about all the things that she wants to do, enjoying the brief shelter and silence around her. She has so many things to do, and so little in the way of resources. Her wand is useful, she can't deny that, but it doesn't feel the same. She either lost her touch, or, more likely, it just isn't as good as her old one, and there certainly isn't any kind of connection. She hopes that one will grow over time, but otherwise she will have to eventually replace it.

Luckily, she never did what everyone told her. Quit studying, cramming only for exams. Not that exams aren't important, Rainbow would hate to fail one, or to have a less than perfect score for that matter, but she also knows that the actual knowledge is important. She knows all the ingredients she needs, lacewing flies, leeches, bicorn horn, fluxweed, knotgrass, and boomslang skin. Once she has that, and a cauldron of course, she only needs time before she can get anything she needs. Except for money, she still needs a solution for that.

But first she needs food. She hasn't eaten since breakfast, and it's already getting dark. Later on, she can look for shoes, and a place to sleep. If necessary, Rainbow concludes that she can just find a quiet place for that. It's still raining, but not as much as it used to. And she's wet already, so it doesn't really matter. She heads to one of the stalls, where they sell hot bread. Rainbow longs for something warm, knowing that she should have taken her coat. But that was left in the van. If only she had thought more, and not made so many assumptions, then she wouldn't be stuck like this.

After purchasing something, the girl starts eating under the cover of one of the overhanging buildings, feeling herself warm up again, thinking about what to do next. Her stomach starts to twist, she always has that when she hasn't eaten for some time, but she doesn't stop. It will get better if she eats more.

She needs some more materials, but most of all, she needs time to practice, to get used to the wand. Something that she prefers to do in relative safety. But on the other hand, she remembers the Trace, but doesn't know how exactly it works, and when it starts. She fears that it is from the moment of her birth, which means that she can't go back to the muggle world, they would catch her far too easily. Especially when she does something more complex. Perhaps running away wasn't the best idea, but on the other hand, she knows that she has to do something. She can't remain in hiding for eleven years. There is too much to do.

Her thoughts are cruelly disturbed by a shout: "There she is!'

Rainbow turns her head, seeing Mr. Ollivander and a man she vaguely recognises, but can't quite place. She however is certain that she has seen him before, somewhere. His most distinguishing trait is a long ponytail. But whoever he is, he seems annoyed by the situation and walks towards her: "Hey! don't run away. We're here to help you."

She tries to think. She can't disapparate, she doesn't trust herself with that. At the same time, Rainbow doesn't want to give up her wand, replacing it would be nearly impossible. No, she has to work towards her escape. Immediately, she turns around, and starts to run. She doesn't know where at first, but she has to get away. She won't lose her newfound freedom.

"Stop!", the stranger shouts, "Stop her!"

Rainbow knows that she can't outpace them, she's too tired, her feet hurt too much, and she just isn't fast enough. When she glances back, she sees the man rapidly gaining on her, she has to escape somehow. She narrowly avoids a witch who moves to grab her, and turns around: "Everto Statum!"

Her pursuer is thrown backwards, but not nearly as much as she would have expected. This still gives her more of a head start as she turns a corner. She knows that it's not the best place to be, but right now it seems like Knockturn Alley might very well be the best place to shake her pursuers.

Rainbow sees stars, she doesn't know what hit her, but it's like a wall.

"Where yeh runnin' to?", It's a voice that she would always recognise. From the wet cobblestones, Rainbow looks up, seeing the enormous from of none other than Hagrid.

Scrambling to her feet, her food lost, but still holding her wand the girl replies: "Home."

Hagrid extends his hand, an instinctively, Rainbow takes it. He pulls her to her feet, but before he lets go the man who pursued her comes around the corner: "Don't let her go!"

"Wha' did she do?", the half-giant asks.

"Nothing!", she shouts, "I did nothing!"

"She attempted to, and as can be seen, succeeded in purchasing a wand.", Ollivander says, turning the corner. "She must have run away from home."

Rainbow knows that there is no way out anymore. Even with her wand, she can't blast them all away to make her escape, and she would never want to hurt Hagrid. The man with the ponytail looks at her: "Hand it over."

Rainbow swallows, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. She has failed, it was all for nothing. But she complies, resisting the urge to curse the man. The fascist.

"Thank you.", he says, putting it in the pocket of his robe. "Now take my hand, I'll bring you back to your family."

Again she obeys, and Hagrid lets go of her. There is no escape, she doesn't see any opportunity, but perhaps one will come later.

"That was some pretty impressive magic for someone your age.", he says to her, after having thanked Hagrid and Ollivander for their assistance. "Your parents must be proud."

"They don't know.", Rainbow replies. The man clearly is looking for signs of a crime. Such as enabling underage magic.

"Oh?", he seems surprised, "you taught yourself?"

Her reply is a nod: "I found a few parchments, and ever since I did, I practiced every day. But I knew that I needed a wand. That's what was mentioned. And I wanted to buy one."

He clearly doesn't believe her, but it's the lie she has used before, to Hermione. But still he nods: "What is your name?"

"My name's Rainbow. Rainbow Star."

He bursts out laughing: "You can't think that I would believe that. That's not a real name!"

"But it is! I am Rainbow Star! It's how my parents called me!", she insists, again cursing herself for having such a silly name.

"Of course they did. Now, what is your real name?"

"I said it already. Rainbow Star, that's my name."

With a sigh he asks: "And where are your parents?"

"In prison. The police arrested them. And they wanted to arrest me. Because they were destroying our house. And we were protesting."

"The police? Aren't those the muggle aurors?"

"What are muggle aurors?", she asks, innocently. She has settled on a new strategy, one that she should be able to maintain to get away with what she's done.

Now he starts to look confused: "You don't know what a muggle is? Or you don't know what an auror is?"

"Both.", she replies, "I never read about those."

"Your parents, they aren't magical?"

"No. They're not. I think, they have some things that make them feel magical though, but they don't let me use them. They say that it's not good for a child.", she puts a hint of sadness in her voice. Hopefully the man beliefs her, but she isn't certain.

"A muggle is a non-magical person. Nothing wrong with they you know, but they just don't get magic. And an auror, I am one. We basically catch dark wizards."

"Am I a dark wizard?"

"Oh!", he laughs, "No. I was here, Mr. Ollivander told me about you. And I couldn't let your case go. It is illegal for children to use magic you see."

"So, ehm, am I in trouble?", she asks softly.

"If what you say is true, we will know it soon enough. But I don't think that you will be in trouble. I will however take you to the ministry, so we can get you back home."

"But I don't have one anymore. They demolished it. To build a bypass for the motorway.", From his face she reads a complete lack of comprehension, obviously an auror has no clue about motorway construction, or any kind of physical infrastructure, let alone bypasses. "And they arrested my parents. And put them in prison."

"Did they? And where did you get hurt?"

"They did hurt me, when I tried to escape. I don't want to go to prison. Are you going to send me there?"

"We don't send children to prison, Azkaban is only for people who have done really bad things.", Williamson states, suddenly becoming a little defensive.

"Really? So, I won't have to go to prison?"

"Of course not. And we also won't let the muggles send you there. We will find a place for you to go. So don't worry. Now, I want you to hold on tightly, and not let go unless I tell you. You might feel a little sick, but everything will be fine. I promise."


	19. Chapter 18: The Ministry

So, me again. I am really grateful to everyone who reads this or takes the time to write a comment. It really means a lot to me.

 **SoulSiphon** : Thank you. What will happen will be shown soon, although there still are a few obstacles on the way there.  
No More Names Are Left: Thank you very much. I confess that I had to look up Peggy Sue however, and was a bit frightened that it was related to the more famous kind of Sue, but was pleasantly surprised that it isn't. Once again, thank you very much for your comment!  
PS: I love your name.

 **JuliSt** : Thank you very much for your comments. In my first version I had her run into a random wizard, but then I remembered that Hagrid occasionally came in those parts, and, well, running into him would stop everyone. Rainbow Star indeed isn't much sillier than many wizarding names, but the thing is, it's an unfamiliar kind of name. And exactly the kind of thing that someone her age would make up.

 **FractiousDay** : There are several reasons why I am writing this as a fanfic, and not as something standing fully alone. I am also writing some original fiction, I am writing something about me waking up as Cleopatra VII Philopator, called "Make Egypt Great Again" (the title was thought of when I didn't expect recent events at all, and I am considering changing it). In a way, that however can also be seen as a kind of fanfiction, but in history. I am bad at worldbuilding, and both historical and fanfiction writing take at least some of this burden off me.

Another big reason, which I know sounds horrible, is that I like being read. And I think that without the name recognition, I wouldn't be able to draw all that many readers. I know that I should write for myself, but it's nice when people care for the work that I've done.

The reason for magic and setting it in this universe is rather simple. It gives a driving force behind everything. I think that, without the recognition provided by enemies like Voldemort, I would have had to spend much more time working out and showing the villains who make the main character go to these lengths, and keep driving her to try to succeed. In my own setting, this wouldn't be there, and that meant at least a few chapters before taking the drastic step of going to the past.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I initially planned way less to take place early in Rainbow's life. I just planned on showing a little about her background, and then having her become more active, so to say. I however found out that I liked this early life stuff, and there were a lot of things that I could do.

Finally, I of course needed magic for the whole going back in time thing, there is no other way to do something like that. And if there is one thing that I'm really bad at, it's trying to think of a magic system. I would just get bogged down in the details, and would just lose interest in the whole project.

 **Tirion I** : She might find a nice home yes. I can't say very much about it, because I don't want to spoil the next few chapters, but I hope that things will be interesting to read.

 **Iopgod** : Thank you for pointing out my mistake. I hope that things have been fixed now.

 **Chapter 18: The Ministry**

Rainbow feels the pull of apparition, that's what she should have done, but she didn't trust herself with it. Not yet. A moment later she indeed feels a bit sick, and finds herself in a familiar place. The Ministry. "W-where is this? What happened?"

"I apparated with you to the Ministry. I'm taking you to the office, and then we can solve this situation, and I can get back to my job. So you'd better not say what you did.", He replies while taking Rainbow to one of the elevators. It's a mess. That's the only word she can find to describe it. There are several small owls in there, and on the floor the traces of their frequenting the Ministry are there, ensuring that she had to stand very carefully.

She of course asks why there are owls there, and the auror explains: "Owls deliver letters, and here, at the ministry, they deliver memos. We used to have junior assistants for that, but the minister believed that owls would be cheaper, but as you can see, owls create their own problems."

Rainbow can't help it and giggles in the hallway of the second floor, avoiding more owlpoo on her way. She however does take in her surroundings, she has never been here before, and has learned to keep her eyes open. One never knows what might be useful later on.

"Williamson!", A man calls, "What kind of dark wizard did you catch!"

Her captor sighs theatrically: "The greatest of them all. An unattended girl who would still defeat you in a duel, Savage."

The other auror is a middle-aged man who is struggling against the loss of the hair on his head, which he combed to cover a large bald spot. Only the hairs on top of it though, it almost looks like that what he lost on top was added to the bottom, forming a large beard.

"So, why didn't you take her back to her parents? We have a serious job you know?"

"It seems that her parents are in muggle prison.", comes the response while Williamson leads the them to a cubicle with an oaken desk and a few chairs.

"Ah, we'll find them. Don't you worry about that missy.", Savage replies, "what's your name?"

"Rainbow, sir, Rainbow Star.", She answers looking seriously. She hates it that no one seems to believe it.

Like Williamson and Savage. "She also told me that earlier, won't say her real name."

Savage merely rolls his eyes: "They do that sometimes. My boys love making up names, and then refuse to be called anything else."

He turns back to her: "So, miss Star, where is your family?"

"In prison. Like I already told Mr. Williamson.", Rainbow explains "They were arrested because they didn't want our house demolished to make space for a bypass."

"Then how did you find Diagon Alley?"

"I fled, to London because I know people there. And then I saw someone who looked strange, and decided to follow him into a pub, also because I wanted to be warm, my coat isn't here, and it is a very rainy day. I thought that I could find a little spot for a moment, before I went back out. But then I saw her walking on, into the back, and I was curious, so I followed. And then the wall went open. I went after her, and I opened the wall as well and so I ended up here. And I knew that it had to be magical."

"Truly?", he looks a little doubtful, but quickly turns it to a smile, "That sounds like a true adventure. Would you mind my colleague looking at the things in your bag?"

Refusing is impossible, Rainbow knows that, and she takes off her backpack while Savage instructs her to sit. Williamson opens it, and starts to look at the contents. Her money, her letters, her wet clothes in a plastic bag, her books, and all of her other things. He looks carefully at everything, but Rainbow's attention is mostly drawn by Savage:

"And what did you do then?"

"I saw a bank, and noticed different money being mentioned, so I wanted to change my money to it, because there were so many things to buy."

"So you went to Gringotts and changed your money to wizarding currency?"  
She nods: "Yes. But the man there was frightening."

"Of course he was, he was a goblin. What did you do next?"

"I wanted to buy a wand. When I was younger, I found a few pieces of parchment about funny stuff, but it said that you needed a wand for it. I can do some things using my finger instead, but I thought that one would make it easier. And I saw a wandshop, so I went there.", Rainbow tries to structure her story so it doesn't sound suspicious, but knows that her knowing any kind of spell at all is almost impossible to explain, so she goes with the same explanation she gave Hermione. Briefly she wonders if the girl who is her has managed to do it, and if she has any magic at all, but she just doesn't know.

Again Savage nods, giving her the idea that he isn't being entirely honest with her: "And what happened?"

"They didn't believe me, and I ran away, wanting to get one elsewhere."

"Where was this?"

"I don't know how it is called, but it was a small shop, but they had lots of things, even if many things there were broken. I told the owner a story, and she sold me the wand.", suddenly it strikes her that the woman might get into trouble over this, "but she thought that it was broken, but I knew better."  
Savage makes some notes, confirming Rainbow's suspicion. "And what did you do then?"

"I went to get something to…"

"I think that I've found something!", Williamson interrupts, holding a small piece of parchment. Rainbow's heart stops, it should have been in her pocket, but, now she remembers, she changed her clothes and forgot about it. "Neil Yaxley?"

"Isn't there a Yaxley around here?", Savage asks, turning to his friend.

Rainbow wants to run, but she knows that there is no escape. The man is an enemy, one of the worst enemies even. And there is nothing she can do. "Yes, he's deputy head of the Administrative Registration Department if I'm not mistaken."

"Oh yes, those quill-pushers.", Williamson quips, "five galleons that they're related?"

"Nah, I'm used to those bets of yours. You only make them when you're certain. Maybe you should get him?"

"What? And be set upon by those people? I'll just write him.", he takes a bit of parchment, and what looks like an owl treat. A moment later a small owl appears, which is quickly sent on its way.

Rainbow forgets her role for a few moments, and looks down, instead of at the wonder of the owl. If only she had her wand, her real one, then she could escape, and maybe get rid of the Death Eater. She looks in the direction of the door, and Savage asks: "Is something wrong?"

"I, ehm, I'm hungry. I had something, but I lost it."

"We'll get you something, don't worry. Now, where were we, you had bought a wand I think, the one over there."

"Yes. And I went to get something to eat, because I was starving.", she pouts, hoping that it works.

"And what happened then?"

"He", she points, "came and chased me. I ran, but, ehm, I'm not very fast. So I tried to blow him away, with a spell I remembered."

"You what? And it succeeded?", he sounds truly incredulous now.

"Yes.", Williamson admits, "She made me fall."

"Don't worry, I won't tell everyone about it. I'm certain that our colleagues will take care of it for me!"

"Go and call the prophet, to save yourself all the trouble.", The ponytailed auror smiles.

"Neh. That would ruin our reputation. And you heard the talk."

"Yes, better keep this wrapped up. So, Rainbow, don't tell people what happened. Just that we found you, okay?"

Rainbow nods: "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

"Good. Now, tell me again, who taught you your magic.", Savage continues his interrogation.

"I did. I did it myself. I found some parchments, and I wanted to learn.", She explains again.

"And where are these parchments then?"

"I, ehm, I accidentally set them on fire."

"You set them on fire?!", He looks shocked, "So that's why you don't have them with you?"

"Yes.", She considers mentioning her letters, but she can't risk it. She doesn't want them intervening with Hermione. That would just be wrong. "But I memorised them!"

"And where did you find these parchments?", Williamson asks.

"I found them", she begins, wanting to win a little time, "in a dustbin, I, ehm, often take newspapers from them. To read. It was at King's Cross, last summer."

The two look surprised, telling Rainbow that she's either convinced them, or, more plausibly, surprised them with the audacity of her story.

"So", Savage begins, "You regularly look in dustbins?"

"If I have to.", Rainbow admits. "I don't like it, people give me strange looks when I do. But I do like reading, and I don't always have something interesting. So I don't have a choice."

Suddenly she hears a strange rhythmic sound, something blunt beating on the floor, and coming closer. She can't quite place it, but turns to look outside the cubicle. She almost jumps up when she sees the man who is looking at her, his wooden leg, scarred face, and most of all, the blue eye that's fixed on her. He twitches, his wand in his hand, aimed at her.

"Who is this?", he demands. Rainbow feels small under Moody's gaze, recalling the stories of his paranoia.

"This is Rainbow, sir.", Savage says, "Williamson found her on her own in Diagon Alley, and we're trying to get her back to her family."

"And how do you know that she isn't a spy, sent to take a look here? Or worse. A murderer?"

"She's just a little girl.", Williamson replies.

Moody sniffs: "You've never heard of polyjuice potion then?"

Rainbow doesn't know what to say, and has to wait for a few moments before Savage replies: "But, wouldn't it be easier to disguise as an adult? And just ask for a visit?"

"Humbug!", the old auror declares, "Never underestimate the creativity of dark wizards."

"We won't sir. Williamson and I are careful, and will have Rainbow out of here as soon as possible."

"Make sure that she leaves nothing behind. And I mean nothing. I…", suddenly he stops, his eye turning in his head.

Rainbow feels relieved to no longer be under such scrutiny. He suddenly turns away, saying: "I'm keeping my eye on you, so don't try anything."

The reason for her departure quickly manifests itself in the form of another wizard. He is all too familiar, although he is much younger than she's used to. But she'll never forget the Death Eater's face. She feels the urge to bolt for her wand, to defend herself. That however is impossible, so she just looks.

"You asked for me, Williamson?", Yaxley asks with a hint of superiority in his voice.

"Yes.", The dislike is mutual, that much is clear to Rainbow, "We found this girl, and don't know her family. Do you know one Neil Yaxley?"

That gives pause to the blonde Death Eater, he is silent for a few moments, clearly thinking about something, before replying slowly: "Yes… I am familiar with the name. I have a cousin with that name. Where did you find it?"

"On this bit of parchment.", Williamson holds it out to Yaxley, who snatches it from his hand to look.

He goes over it several times, before his eyes bore into Rainbow's. She meets his gaze, holding it for some time. She won't give in to any attempt to look into her mind. "She's his daughter. I will take her."


	20. Chapter 19: Windermere

Once again I really want to thank you all for reading this, it truly makes me feel great.

 **iopgod** : That's the way yes!

 **Brian1972** : being adopted without any issues indeed is terribly overdone. I won't go into a lot of detail, but keep in mind that these people destroyed their son's mind for being a squib, and closely related families permantently broke contact with relatives who married the 'wrong' people.

 **JuliSt** : Thank you. I try to go for slightly realistic portrayals , and Moody was supposed to be utterly paranoid at this stage. Yaxley will come up a little more in this update.

 **Uchiha Aimee** : Thank you very much. I try to avoid some of the common pitfalls, but will probably find a few more along the way that I walk right into.

 **Tirion I** : She indeed would do well to hide some things, but the issue, as always, is that strong feelings are hard to hide.

 **Chapter 19: Windermere**

Rainbow feels her heart racing when she is taken to Yaxley's office. All of her things have been returned to her bag, but none of them matter. What matters is the little parchment that she hasn't hidden. She should have never taken it, or if she had, she should have burned it. Now it only leads to suffering. With a wand things would have been easier, she would have fought, but that's not an option now.

The Death Eater closes the door behind himself, before turning to the girl. "Where did you find this?"

Rainbow avoids his eyes, replying softly: "With my father's things. The things that he had as a little boy. When they found him."

"And what did it read?"

She isn't stupid, and knows what he's actually asking. "Just his first name, and his birthday. I thought that it looked like there should be something more, and suddenly it appeared."

"Did you show or tell anyone?", he asks in a harsh tone.

"No. I didn't. I didn't know how to say it."

"Name?"

"Rainbow Star."

For a few moments he thinks, before sneering: "Who is your mother?"

"Ashley. She's an artist."

"She's a muggle.", it's a statement and a question in one. One that she fears to answer, but must.

"She is.", she almost whispers it, fearing the reaction.

"Mudblood.", He mutters, showing a twitch in his face. "How did you come here?"

"The police came to destroy our house. They arrested everyone, but I escaped. I fled to London, because it should be easy to hide there. And then I saw some very strange people entering a pub. I followed them, and found a street, and went there. And then they arrested me."

"Go to the corner and stay there. And don't make a sound until I tell you to."

XxXxX

Rainbow doesn't know how long she has been waiting, all that she has been doing is thinking, trying to drive her fear away. Trying, and failing. She heard him, she knows what he thinks, and she has an awful suspicion of what he's doing. He sent a few owls, but that's not it. He's waiting, until it's late and he can take her away without anyone seeing them. And then he'll take her to a secluded place, and murder her. All she can do is preparing herself, to murder him first.

That's one of the lessons she has drawn from the war. Capturing did nothing, and now there is even less she can do. No, if she wants to hurt the enemy, she has to do it, even if she doesn't want to.

An owl arrives, the first arriving one, and Yaxley eagerly takes the short letter, tearing the envelope before looking at it. He stands up, looking at Rainbow: "Come."

She obeys, standing up. Immediately she feels dizzy, and blackness pushes on her eyes. She sways, feeling the world disconnect. Only a voice comes through: "I said come."

Rainbow breathes deeply. She can't have this happen now. She's sick, and struggles against unconsciousness. She hears something vague, but understanding is difficult.

Slowly, she regains control, first her breathing, and then the rest. She opens her eyes a little, sound and light return to the world, and she understands: "...ong with you?"

"Sorry", she mutters "I, I haven't eaten all day."

"Come. Now."

He doesn't extend a hand. Of course not, he would never touch someone like her. But she obeys, following him. Under her clothes she can feel her wand pressing against her skin. It's not comfortable, but she needs it. It's better to be uncomfortable than to be dead.

The ministry is empty by now, but Rainbow still has to watch her feet, she doesn't want to step into the filth. They walk to one of the chimneys, and he takes her hand. "Do exactly as I tell you. Don't speak unless spoken to. And show respect."

He then steps into the fire, taking her: "Windermere End!"

XxXxX

Rainbow looks around a large hallway lined with portraits. A house elf, a miserable creature wearing only a loincloth made out of an old handkerchief bows deeply: "Master Corban, the master and the mistress await you in the drawing room."

Yaxley ignores the elf, commanding her: "Follow me."

The house elf gives her a dirty look as she walks by, giving her the feeling that he hates her. She assumes that it's because she is dirty, and the poor creature has to clean it all up. She feels sorry for him, but can't focus on it. Something awaits her.

The girl struggles to keep pace with the wizard. Normally she would pay more attention to her surroundings, but now she only thinks. Master and mistress? Perhaps Yaxley's sibling and their spouse? The more sensible idea strikes her. His parents. Who could, when she looks at Yaxley's age, easily be her grandparents.

She swallows when she enters a drawing room with the Death Eater, seeing an elderly couple sitting in deep leather chairs. Both remind her of Neil, confirming her suspicions.

The woman looks at her with cold eyes: "This is the child?"

"Yes mother.", Yaxley replies, "This is the child."

"It had the parchment?", The loathing in her voice is obvious.

He steps forwards, giving it to her. After a glance she lets it fall to the ground. "Hmf! It looks real. And it's Andrew's hand."

She turns to the elderly man who has so far remained silent: "I told you that we should have put him out of his misery. Now look at the mess! In our house no less."

"He was our flesh and blood. You can't kill that!"

"You can if it brings shame to the family. I let you convince me, that the signs could come later. But no.", She glares at Rainbow again: "Or is he a wizard?"

"No madam.", She replies politely, not wanting to draw more bile and hatred.

"And your mother?"

"No madam."

A deadly silence drops, broken after a few moments by Andrew, the old man: "What's your name?"

"Rainbow, Sir, my first name is Rainbow, my last is Star."

"So that's the name they gave Neil?"

"No Sir, his last name isn't Star."

"Then your parents aren't married?", He asks kindly. Or rather, not as unkindly as her grandmother.

"Yes, they don't believe in marriage.", She states, feeling judged. The desire to defend her family is hard to suppress.

"Hmpf!", Her grandmother sniffs, "Filthy muggles."

"Is it true that they're in prison?", Andrew asks.

"Yes. They arrested them this morning. Sir."

"And you?"

"I escaped. I, ehm I made the lock open, and ran away and went to London."

"You made the lock open?", He continues.

"Yes. I wanted it to open, and it did. That often happens when I want it to. But I have to really want it.", Rainbow replies, feeling proud of what she achieved while an idea strikes her. For now she however stays silent, waiting for her opportunity.

Unfortunately she doesn't know what she can do magically, so that remains a last resort.

"But you didn't escape the aurors.", Grandmother states.

"I would have, if there wasn't a monstrously huge man in the way.", Rainbow becomes defensive, she can't seem useless or stupid.

For a moment, the elderly couple lock their eyes, and Andrew claps his hands. A moment later an elf appears. She looks a lot like the other one, but younger. It's still an obviously unpleasant creature. That doesn't surprise Rainbow, the misery of such a cruel kind of slavery would make nearly everyone like that.

"Dilly.", He commands, "Bring this girl to the guestroom. Wash her, and lock her in."

The elf bows deeply: "Yes master! Dilly is happy to serve."

"No!", The woman interrupts, "It can sleep in the basement."

"Yes mistress!", She can hear the glee in Dilly's voice.

Rainbow feels her stomach again, and asks softly: "Could I also get something to eat? I haven't had anything at all today."

"Give her the leftovers.", Andrew commands in response. "I won't have her starve here."

The elf takes her hand, and with more strength than one would expect from such a little creature, drags her away, forcing Rainbow to almost run to keep the pace. Nails push into her hand, but she doesn't show her pain. She won't let anyone take joy from her suffering.

They go through the hallway, where Rainbow sees and hears the portraits sneer at her. She wants to burn down the whole house, with everyone in it. That would at least be satisfying. Behind her she can hear raised voices, but it's impossible to make out what they are saying.

Dilly practically pushes her down the stairs, into the barely-lit basement. Unlike most, it is free of dust, and actually looks clean, although everything looks old and bent. It's clearly not meant to be seen. She can walk normally, but it's all too clear that many adults couldn't walk upright. The ground feels cold to her feet, but perhaps she can find a way to escape, she can't stay here, with these terrible people. They'll murder her.

There are several heavy wooden doors, and Dilly opens one, which surprisingly doesn't creak. It reveals a small room, mostly filled with cut wood, for a fireplace, Rainbow concludes. The room is much warmer than the hallway, which she concludes must be the effect of some sort of magic, probably to properly dry the wood. There however is no light in the room.

"Go inside.", the elf pushes her, and the girl does as she is told. The heavy door closes behind her, leaving her in the darkness. She hears the sound of a key turning, and knows that she's trapped. But what does it matter? She was trapped anyways, and if necessary, she can try to fight her way out. At least they underestimate her. And they don't know her yew secret. She remembers the command to wash her, and takes out her wand, quickly shoving it into her bag which she puts on the ground.

Rainbow sits down, giving her feet some rest while she tries to think about her options. She can go back to the muggle world, but they would probably take her away from her family. That's what Shirley always warned her about, and it's all too likely. Their methods wouldn't be liked by the authorities. And that in turn would mean being sent to a home, with others. She would be forced to go to school, and to waste most of her time on things that don't matter at all. She can't afford that.

She considers just running away, trying to survive on her own. She knows that there are some things that she can do, but she would have to live somehow, and would have to do things that she can't in order to do so. Magic can do many things, but that doesn't include making food. And without food she can't do anything. And then there is the underage magic thing, they would catch her all too easily.

Another idea strikes her, but she knows that it's silly: Going to her real parents, with Hermione. She can't force herself onto those people, they don't deserve all the issues. And again, she would have to go to school, something that she wants to avoid.

That leaves one more option. Staying here. But that too is difficult. She doesn't know what it would be like, and has plenty of reason to suspect that it won't even be possible. No, they'll come to kill her, and that means that she has to stick to her original plan. It won't be easy, but perhaps she could manage to steal some things when she leaves, she knows that she wouldn't feel bad about that.


End file.
